“Almost overnight, platforms that offer non-dilutive capital for recurring revenue businesses have become white-hot. It was only in March that Pipe — which aims to be the “Nasdaq for revenue” — raised $150 million, but two months later had raised $250 million at a $2 billion valuation…The Spanish-American company is also now launching “Capchase Expense Financing” to enable companies to manage their largest expenses — such as legal bills, cloud hosting services, payroll and bonus payments and recruitment fees —  without depleting their cash reserves, in either 3-, 6-, 9- or 12-month increments.”

“Rappi , a Colombian on-demand delivery startup, has raised “over” $500 million at a $5.25 billion valuation in a Series F round led by T. Rowe Price, the company announced late Friday…According to the Latin American Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (LAVCA), Rappi focused on delivering beverages at first, and has since expanded into meals, groceries, tech goods and medicine. The company also offers a cash withdrawal feature, allowing users to pay with credit cards and then receive cash from one of Rappi’s delivery agents.”

“Venmo is ditching its global social feed, making it so users can no longer see payments between people they don’t know. The app, owned by PayPal Holdings Inc. , will continue to allow users to see transactions among their friends, according to a blog post Tuesday. The move comes after Venmo has seen its customer base swell to 70 million during the pandemic.”

“Online cross-border payment technology is opening new markets for e-commerce firms and new shopping options for consumers — but the European Union’s tax system hasn’t kept pace, creating compliance headaches for U.S. digital merchants and confusing bills for customers on the Continent. In an attempt to fix that problem, the European Commission has simplified its value-added-tax (VAT) regulations governing online sellers and cross-border payments. VAT, which is assessed in Europe and other countries, is the equivalent of a sales tax but is structured differently. U.S. sales taxes are levied at the point of sale as a percentage of the overall purchase, while VAT is based on calculations that determine the increase in value of a good or service at different stages of production or distribution.”

“Top U.S. banking regulators are expected as early as Tuesday to commit to jointly modernize rules governing how banks lend hundreds of billions of dollars annually in lower-income communities, according to people familiar with the plans. At the same time, officials are expected to propose scrapping a Trump-era overhaul of the rules that had divided regulators and industry officials , the people said. At a time when many banking services have moved online, regulators have been trying to forge a consensus for updating rules from a law enacted more than 40 years ago when banking largely took place at physical branches.”

“Companies that transfer bitcoin or other cryptoassets must collect details of senders and recipients to help authorities crack down on dirty money, EU policymakers proposed on Tuesday in the latest efforts to tighten regulation of the sector. The law proposed by the European Commission, the EU executive, would apply what is known as the travel rule to crypto transactions to make them traceable. The rule, which is one of the recommendations of the inter-governmental watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), already applies to wire transfers.”

“There are still several months to go before the changes will enter into force It remains to be seen whether Lex Apple Pay 2 will have the desired effect of incentivising PSPs to create competing services to Apple Pay or whether the impact is as low as we have seen for Lex Apple Pay 1 . In any case, it will be interesting to see the other EU countries’ next steps and the outcome of the European Commission’s formal antitrust investigation.”

“Bitcoin fell below $30,000 for the first time since Jun. 22 dragging other digital coins lower. About $89 billion was wiped off the entire cryptocurrency market in 24 hours as of 6:29 a.m. ET on Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap data.”

“According to a draft press release from the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the Bureau of Securities is planning to issue a Summary Cease and Desist Order to New Jersey-based multi-billion dollar bitcoin financial services platform BlockFi to stop offering interest-bearing accounts.  If signed, this action could be the first of its kind against crypto lending platforms that have seen rapid growth during the recent crypto bull run. Since its inception in 2017, BlockFi has raised $500 million in private funding and has a valuation of $5 billion. The undated, unpublished draft contends that BlockFi, has been funding and facilitating its cryptocurrency lending and trading operations at least partly through the sale of unregistered securities in alleged violation of relevant securities laws.”

“Nearly 21m (20.87m) personal and 3.51m corporate digital yuan wallets have so far been issued during China’s ongoing trials of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has revealed.  To date, the digital currency — also known as e-CNY — has been used to make nearly 71m transactions with an overall value of about 34.5bn yuan (US$ 5.33bn) and has been used “in over 1.32m scenarios, covering utility payment, catering service, transportation, shopping and government services,” PBOC says.”

“As we hopefully emerge from the worst of the pandemic, credit card companies are rethinking their premium card products . For years, one of the most popular and iconic rewards cards has been The Platinum Card® from American Express . Rumors swirled back in April about major potential coming changes to the Platinum card. But now it’s confirmed: Amex is revamping its consumer Amex Platinum card with a host of new benefits, a new welcome offer and yes, an increase to its annual fee.”

“NMI , a leading global payments enablement technology company, and J.P. Morgan , the No. 1 acquirer of web transactions in Europe* for the sixth year running, will utilize NMI’s portfolio of retail, mPOS, unattended and tap to mobile technologies to serve J.P. Morgan customers in a selection of European countries…NMI’s broad range of payment technologies and solutions focusing on contactless enablement, unattended and emerging tap to mobile, can provide J.P. Morgan’s merchant customers with innovative card-present capabilities to support consumers’ needs as they return to stores.”

“Payveris, the fastest-growing money movement provider in fintech, announced today that its MoveMoney Platform now delivers a real-time P2P solution that rivals Zelle, Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App.  The new service enables financial institutions’ customers to instantly send money to anyone with a U.S. bank or credit union account using the recipient’s mobile phone number or email address—no special app required. The platform offers financial institutions a truly frictionless solution that supports their customers’ journeys to financial freedom.”

“BigCommerce (Nasdaq: BIGC), a leading Open SaaS ecommerce platform for fast-growing and established brands, today announced a partnership with Mercado Libre (Nasdaq: MELI), the leading ecommerce marketplace in Latin America, to give BigCommerce merchants the ability to sell across Latin America to nearly 133 million unique consumers on Mercado Libre’s Marketplace. It also marks Mercado Libre’s first partnership with a major North American ecommerce platform and complements the company’s recent expansion into the United States.”

“Afterpay Australia Pty Limited today announced key details of its new money and lifestyle app Money by Afterpay (“Money app”) which will begin its roll out today with an Australian staff pilot. The Money app will mark the debut of Afterpay’s collaboration with Westpac just ten months after it was announced, setting the scene for a full Australian customer launch in October 2021.”

“Sezzle Inc. (ASX: SZL) (Sezzle or Company) // – Sezzle , a purpose-driven payments company, today announces the upcoming launch of ‘Sezzle Capital’, a program enabling retail partners with working capital up to US$10 Million. Powered by Wayflyer , a hassle-free, flexible funding platform, Sezzle Capital provides merchants with a bridge to fast, affordable, unsecured funds. The new program solves the difficult task eCommerce businesses have in sourcing working capital. With higher approval rates than traditional lending and simple pricing models, Sezzle Capital will extend its mission of financial empowerment to eCommerce businesses.”

“Mastercard announced today it will enhance its card program for cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges, making it simpler for partners to convert cryptocurrency to traditional fiat currency. Working with Evolve Bank & Trust and Paxos Trust Company , the leading blockchain infrastructure and regulated stablecoin issuance platform, and Circle, a global financial technology firm and the principal operator of the USD Coin (USDC), a dollar digital currency or stablecoin, Mastercard and its partners will test this new capability to enable more banks and crypto companies to offer a card option to people wanting to spend their digital assets anywhere Mastercard is accepted.”

“Fintech startup Razorpay on Monday said it has acquired TERA Finlabs, a Bengaluru-based startup that provides technology, risk and capital solutions to enable embedded financing solutions for businesses. TERA Finlabs is an Indian subsidiary of UK-based digital lender, GAIN Credit. The company, however, did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.”

“Serena Williams is investing an undisclosed amount in Esusu , a fintech start-up that allows renters to build and improve credit by reporting their rent payments to credit bureaus. The tennis superstar provided the backing through her venture capital firm, Serena Ventures , as part of the start-up’s first funding round… “Esusu is an excellent example of an innovative fintech company leveraging technology to deliver scalable and much-needed financial solutions for underserved populations,” Motley Fool Ventures managing director Ollen Douglass said in a release. “Their inclusive credit building offerings can unlock access to credit for low-to-medium income households across the country.”  Esusu was founded in 2018 by Abbey Wemimo and Samir Goel, who saw their immigrant families struggle to pay for rent and build credit after moving to the United States.”

“India’s RBL Bank (RATB.NS) said on Thursday it has signed up Visa Inc (V.N) for its credit cards, a day after India’s central bank decided to bar rival payments company Mastercard Inc (MA.N) from issuing new debit or credit cards in the country. The lender aims to issue new credit cards under the Visa network in 8 to 10 weeks following a technology integration.”

“Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are considering moves to gradually open up their services to one another, as Beijing’s tech crackdown makes it harder for China’s two online giants to maintain the virtual barriers they have built in recent years. That would mark a big shift for China’s consumer internet, which has largely split into two camps built around the arch rivals. The restrictions mean, for example, that customers can’t use Tencent’s payment system to buy goods on an Alibaba platform. Now, both companies are separately working on plans to loosen those curbs, according to people familiar with the matter. The system could make life more convenient for consumers—and help spur greater competition—but will also mean the duo will have more insight into each other’s businesses.”

“Costs at the top US banks jumped more than $6.6bn in the most recent quarter, as the intensifying battle for talent and the growing threat from new fintech rivals forced executives to step up spending.  The 10 per cent increase in costs compared with last year at JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America and Citigroup surprised analysts. Many had predicted that expenses would fall modestly this year as the extra spending associated with doing business during the pandemic faded away. However, on a series of conference calls to discuss quarterly earnings, executives forecast higher annual expenses due to pay increases for bankers and bigger investments in technology and marketing.”

“MFS Africa today announces that it has made its entry into Sierra Leone, partnering with Afrimoney, pan-African telecommunications leader Africell’s mobile money service, to enable mobile money users in the country to receive payments from abroad smoothly and affordably…With this partnership in place, mobile transfer operator customers that are connected to the MFS Africa hub – such as MoneyGram, World Remit, and Xoom – can easily send money to mobile wallets in Sierra Leone. With over 320 million mobile wallets connected to MFS Africa’s hub, it provides an array of new cross-border payment possibilities.”

“There’s a new battle brewing in the credit-card rewards war, this time over putting cash back in customers’ wallets. Bank of America Corp. became the latest lender to debut a cash-back offering on Monday, when it unveiled its Unlimited Cash Rewards credit card, offering users 1.5% cash back on all purchases. That follows new products last month from rivals Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc.“

“Monetary authorities around the world are rushing to design digital currencies, and many are asking: Who knows how to do this? Some of the first governments to go digital have found an answer in cryptocurrency enthusiasts. For these rebels against traditional approaches to finance, the digital trend presents an opportunity to create virtual money for a whole nation.”

“Citigroup Inc. stopped taking applications for its $495-a-year Prestige card, a competitor to American Express Co.’s Platinum line and JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Sapphire Reserve. The bank will still serve existing Prestige customers, according to an emailed statement Friday, and encouraged prospective customers to instead consider products including the no-annual-fee Citi Custom Cash Card, which it introduced last month.”

“Add Booking Holdings Inc. to the list of e-commerce companies betting that a tighter control over the payments process will create a better experience for consumers—and a new revenue stream. The online-travel company announced earlier this month that it was launching a financial technology unit that would aim to simplify some of the monetary hurdles of international travel, from booking a room at a hotel where there’s a different local currency to making a purchase commitment for a trip that won’t take place for a few months.”

“Bill.com (NYSE:BILL), a leading provider of cloud-based software that simplifies, digitizes, and automates complex back-office financial operations for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), announced today it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Invoice2go in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $625 million. Invoice2go is a leading, mobile-first accounts receivable (AR) software provider that empowers small businesses and freelancers to grow their client base, manage invoicing and payments, build their brand, and much more. With offices in Sydney, Australia and Palo Alto, California, Invoice2go serves a large global customer base of small businesses.”

“Infinicept , a leading provider of embedded payments, today announced the launch of its Partner Network to help software and fintech companies get payments going their way. The Partner Network is designed to meet the evolving needs of companies as they embed payments into their digital experiences, providing them with a curated set of trusted providers, so they have full control over their payments journey.”

“Indian digital payments leader Paytm, which counts Ant Group and Softbank (9984.T) among its backers, is seeking regulatory approval to raise up to 166 billion rupees ($2.23 billion) in one of the biggest stock market listings in the country. The offering, which values the company at up to $25 billion according to sources, comes at a time of a pandemic-fuelled boom in India’s digital economy and an intensifying battle for market share with Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Google Pay and Facebook Inc-owned (FB.O) WhatsApp Pay.”

“U.S. Bancorp said renewed strength in its payments businesses is a bullish indicator for both its own prospects and the national economy…Total sales across the bank’s corporate-payment systems, merchant acquiring and credit- and debit-card units exceeded 2019 levels for the first time since the start of the pandemic, the Minneapolis-based bank said in a statement .”

“The State Department will offer rewards up to $10 million for information leading to the identification of anyone engaged in foreign state-sanctioned malicious cyber activity, including ransomware attacks , against critical U.S. infrastructure. A task force set up by the White House will coordinate efforts to stem the ransomware scourge. The Biden administration is also out with a website, stopransomware.gov , that offers the public resources for countering the threat and building more resilience into networks, a senior administration official told reporters.”

“Mastercard has launched a cloud-native, real-time payment gateway designed to ease access for institutions connecting to the UK’s Faster Payments network. The PayPort+ gateway has been developed by Form3 and is now live with two UK financial institutions, including Nationwide Building Society.PayPort was launched in 2016 to offer financial institutions, large and small, connectivity into the UK Faster Payments network. The new product will now offer flexible connectivity options, including MQ, Restful APIs and Microservices.”

“China’s central bank said on Friday it will explore cross-border payments in digital yuan, and is willing to discuss setting global standards for digital fiat currency to jointly develop the international monetary system. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will strengthen data security and personal information protection as it forges ahead with domestic testing of the digital yuan, it said in a white paper that is the first comprehensive disclosure of its plans.”

“Walmart is testing an all-self-checkout Supercenter in Plano at one of its biggest local stores and one where growing families can easily pile high a grocery cart. It’s calling the process “hosted checkout” because employees are standing by to help if customers need it. Kroger has been testing all self-checkout at a small urban store on Cedar Springs in Dallas, but the sight of no cashier lanes in a store as big as Walmart’s Plano Supercenter stocked with more than 120,000 items and surrounded by suburban rooftops is daunting.”

“A regional grocer is now accepting federal EBT SNAP payments for eligible items for online in-store pickup and curbside pickup orders. Consumers using federal SNAP benefits (popularly known as food stamps) now have the option to pay with an EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card when placing online orders for in-store pickup and delivery at 147 stores located throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware.”

“The Federal Reserve Board told a North Dakota federal court this month that a lawsuit brought against it by retail associations in April over its rules for debit transaction fees seeks belatedly to rehash issues already settled by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2014. In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the Federal Reserve Board’s lawyers this month contended that not only are the North Dakota Retail Association and North Dakota Petroleum Association seeking to litigate settled law, they also argued the associations are doing so after a statute of limitations on their claims has elapsed.”

“When Democrats took control of the White House and Congress in January, the conventional thinking was that they would move quickly to pass pot banking reform. But Democrats’ broader legalization efforts have turned the issue on its head. Experts said lawmakers themselves know that sweeping marijuana reform will not pass.”

“Transcard, a leading provider of payments and technology solutions, announced today the launch of its SMART Disburse platform which enables businesses, banks, and Fintechs to easily pay suppliers and individuals using any payment type or payment rail. Innovative unified solution combines multi-rail payment capabilities, seamless integration with any ERP, legacy software or bank API layer, and automatic data reconciliation.”

“TravelPerk , the largest global business travel management platform, announced today a new partnership with Divvy , the leading spend and expense management platform to bring the best business travel and expense management experience on the planet. Through the collaboration, TravelPerk becomes Divvy’s primary travel partner, providing employees of small and midsize businesses (SMBs) with a simpler way to book, manage, and pay for what they need when travelling for work, while also giving finance teams a central place to control, manage, and track spend.”

“Lithic is excited to announce that we are doubling down on our commitment to building a first-class issuing experience for developers by partnering with Plaid . By connecting to over 11,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada, and Europe, Plaid’s platform powers the digital tools that millions of people rely on to improve their financial lives. This integration will help streamline ACH payments and card loads for Lithic API Issuing customers, who can use Plaid Link to instantly connect customer bank accounts to load funds or initiate ACH transfers.”

“Klarna , a leading global retail bank, payments and shopping service, today announced the first group to receive grants from the recently-launched Klarna Small Business Impact Initiative to help SMBs recover from a loss of business due to the pandemic. Recipients will be awarded a portion of $4.5 million in Klarna services, including one year of fee-free payments and $40,000 of free media that extends marketing exposure across Klarna’s ecosystem.”

“Square Inc. is creating a new business line to help developers build financial services products focused on Bitcoin, according to tweets from Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey…The San Francisco-based digital payments company has three business lines: Cash App, Square Seller products and the music-streaming service Tidal, which it acquired earlier this year . Dorsey has long been interested in transforming Square into a broader organization with a number of standalone units.”

“The fintech funding continues to roll in at a rapid pace, a result of the huge shift underway in how consumers spend and manage their money. In the latest development, Revolut — the London-based financial “superapp” that provides banking, investing, currency transfer and other money management services to some 16 million users globally — this morning confirmed that it has raised $800 million. The company said that this Series E round of funding values Revolut at $33 billion.”

“Health-care payments software provider Waystar has agreed to buy Patientco in a deal that bolsters its ability to collect payments from patients who have become responsible for an increasing share of health-care bills in the U.S. The deal, which could be announced as soon as Thursday, is valued at more than $450 million, said people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because it was private. Waystar, backed by private equity firm EQT and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board , is a so-called revenue cycle management company that helps health-care providers including doctors and hospitals collect money from health insurers and the government for the services they provide.”

“Starting this August, businesses in the US who use participating platforms will have the ability to enable Facebook Pay as a payment option directly on their websites, giving their customers the ability to speed through checkout without having to re-enter their payment information. We’re starting the rollout with Shopify merchants and expect to expand availability with more platforms and payment service providers over time.”

“PayPal is upping the amount of cryptocurrency users can purchase by five times. PayPal’s users can now buy $100,000 worth of bitcoin and other digital assets per week, up from a previous limit of $20,000. The company is also scrapping its annual purchase limit of $50,000.”

“The world’s first sovereign e-currency, the digital yuan has already been involved in transactions worth USD 300 million and can currently be traded for cash at more than 3,000 ATMs in Beijing. It has been in development since 2014 and is formally known as the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) system. For now, the Chinese central bank is encouraging merchants in tier-1 cities’ popular tourist areas and business districts to utilize DCEP wallets.”

“Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said one of the stronger arguments for the U.S. central bank to set up a digital currency is that it could undercut the need for private alternatives such as cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Asked during a congressional hearing if having a digital currency issued by the Fed would be a more viable alternative than having multiple cryptocurrencies or stablecoins emerge in the payments system, Powell said he agreed. A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that attempts to peg its value to a conventional currency such as the U.S. dollar.”

“Sezzle Inc. (ASX:SZL) (Sezzle or Company) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with DFS Services LLC (Discover), a subsidiary of Discover Financial Services (Discover), in which Discover will invest US$30 million into Sezzle…the parties propose to enter into an expanded partnership, including plans for a buy now, pay later network solution on the Discover Global Network, as well as a dedicated referral program introducing Discover credit and debit products to Sezzle’s consumer base.”

“Billtrust (NASDAQ: BTRS), a B2B accounts receivable automation and integrated payments leader, announces KONE Inc., a leader in the elevator and escalator industry, will now be using Billtrust’s Invoicing platform and Business Payments Network (BPN) in Canada, enabling the company to send more invoices electronically while positioning them to accept digital payments through their preferred channels.”

“As the consumer shift to contactless payments becomes permanent, Intuit (Nasdaq: INTU) QuickBooks is introducing QuickBooks Card Reader, a new innovative payments device designed for today’s small business owners. Integrated with QuickBooks Payments, which processes more than $65 billion in volume annually, the card reader is the latest fintech offering to help small businesses get paid faster, no matter how or where they work.”

“Many consumers use their credit cards to rack up rewards to be used toward travel.  But what if you’re a sports fan, and using your credit card could lead to a virtual conversation with a player on your favorite team? Thanks to San Francisco-based Cardless , that opportunity may be less of a stretch than you think. The startup, which is out to give brands and tech companies a way to launch custom co-branded credit cards, has raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by Activant Capital.”

“The funding comes as the demand for blockchain and smart contracts audits is increasing in the wake of hacks and attacks in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space. According to The Block Research, nearly $500 million has been stolen and lost in DeFi attacks and scams in the last year and a half. CertiK audits codes of blockchain projects and protocols to ensure they are secure. The New York-based firm, founded in 2018, claims to have over 1,000 clients, including Aave, Polygon, Yearn, and Binance.”

“The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday imposed restrictions on Mastercard Asia / Pacific Pte Ltd (Mastercard) from onboarding new domestic debit, credit or prepaid customers on its card network. The ban on Mastercard issuing new cards takes effect on 22 July. The action has been against the payment system operator for violating RBI’s norms on the storage of payment systems data. “Notwithstanding the lapse of considerable time and adequate opportunities being given, the entity has been found to be non-compliant with the directions on Storage of Payment System Data,” the central bank said in a statement.”

“Amid the bright spots in JPMorgan Chase’s second-quarter earnings report — including higher consumer spending and record revenue in asset and wealth management — there lingers a pesky headwind that could persist for several months. Payment rates on credit cards, which have been higher than normal during the pandemic, could stay elevated through the end of the year, executives at the $3.7 trillion-asset bank warned Tuesday. If cash-flush consumers keep paying off their balances at unusually fast rates, loan growth will remain muted, even though card spending has been rising.”

“PayPal Holdings Inc’s (PYPL.O) new “buy now, pay later” offering in Australia will not charge late payment fees, the U.S. payments giant said on Wednesday, as it attempts to edge past main industry rival Afterpay (APT.AX) in the country. The U.S. company’s interest-free BNPL option in Australia, known as “PayPal Pay in 4″, launched last month, has lowered its minimum purchase value to A$30 ($22.44) from A$50, it added.”

“Commercial banks will play “a very important role” in Sweden’s project to create a central bank digital currency despite concerns that it could erode traditional lenders’ deposit bases, according to a payment executive at Svenska Handelsbanken AB (publ). Handelsbanken, Sweden’s largest bank by assets, has become the first commercial lender to join a project by the Swedish central bank, or Riksbank, to test a so-called “e-krona” — a digital version of cash. Governments around the world from Cambodia to China and the Bahamas are exploring central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, with about 60% of central banks conducting experiments or proofs of concept, and 14% moving to development and pilots, according to the Bank for International Settlements, a global body representing central banks.”

“The European Central Bank is set to give the green light on Wednesday to a multi-year project to create a digital version of the euro. An electronic equivalent of banknotes and coins, the digital euro will likely be a digital wallet that euro zone citizens can keep at the ECB. It is part of a drive by central banks to meet growing demand for electronic means of payment and tackle a boom in private sector digital currencies from Bitcoin to Facebook’s (FB.O) proposed Diem.”

“Square (NYSE: SQ) today announced it has acquired Crew, a frontline employee platform for consolidating and streamlining the day-to-day operations of hourly workforces. Communication is a critical element for all employers managing teams. With the acquisition of Crew, Square gains a robust workplace messaging platform that will strengthen, complement, and scale its existing labor management tools offered through Team Management , better positioning the company to meet the needs of larger, more complex sellers.”

“Railsbank, the leading global Embedded Finance platform, has raised USD$70 million in its latest funding round…Railsbank will use the funds to further expand its various Embedded Finance products (Banking as a Service, Cards as a Service, and Credit as a Service) across Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, to help its customers remodel and democratise access to the financial services industry. The Railsbank platform is used by customers such as fintechs, telcos, supermarkets and consumer brands to innovate fast and radically improve the way millions of consumers and SMEs access, use and manage their money.”

“Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) Latin America today announced a successful launch of the Citi Digital Account. Citi Digital Account leverages innovative digital capabilities using Citi’s award-winning CitiDirect BE® Digital Onboarding, Electronic Signatures, and Digital Product Activations.”

“The cost of failed payments is estimated to have cost the global economy $118.5 billion in fees, labor and lost business in 2020 according to the latest study from Accuity, a LexisNexis® Risk Solutions company. The total cost of failed payments regionally was $41.1 billion in EMEA, $33.7 billion in the Americas and $43.7 billion in Asia-Pacific (APAC). The report shows that the average cost of failed payments varied across the globe, depending on the type of organization. Banks spent on average approximately $360,000 in 2020 on failed payments – which includes all fees, labor and costs related to customer attrition – whereas the average corporate firm spent just over $200,000.”

“Heightening the need for greater attention to authentication fraud, the COVID-pandemic increased demand for more consumers to enroll in online or mobile (digital) accounts to make remote payments. In fact, average U.S. consumer e-commerce spending was 36% of total spending in December 2020, up from just 26% in March 2020. [1] Unfortunately, fraudsters have noticed the shift, too – and they are changing the targets of their fraud attacks accordingly. To help address remote authentication fraud, the Fed recently published Remote Authentication Landscape and Authentication Methods , the first of three research briefs planned for this summer.”

“Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ ), the global modern card issuing platform, and Payfare (TSX: PAY), a leading fintech powering instant payout and digital banking solutions for contract workers, today announced a strategic partnership to expand the reach of Payfare’s platform across the global gig economy.”

“An initiative of Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions segment, the TSYS Partner Program will cultivate strategic alliances with top global companies and unlock mutual business opportunities by delivering a robust, scalable comprehensive solution set to companies worldwide.”