“Millennial and Gen Z consumers are more willing to utilize buy now, pay later (BNPL) services to help cope with the growing costs of goods, according to a new survey from Trustpilot. Inflation grew 8.3% in April, cooling for the first time in months, yet rising more than anticipated. Trustpilot’s survey found that more than half of respondents (51%) said that a fear of taking on too much debt amid rising levels of inflation is preventing them from using a BNPL service. However, 41% of those between the ages of 18 and 34 said they’d likely use BNPL services for household purchases. That’s compared to just 12% of older Americans, aged 55 and up, who said they’d be willing to do the same. “Of the group that has used BNPL, 25% are already planning to use the service to help pay for household essentials that have risen in cost as a result of inflation,” the survey stated.”

“ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), the global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software , today announced that ACI Payments Inc.* is now offering PayPal and Venmo payments to federal taxpayers. ACI will be the first vendor to offer Venmo as a payment option for federal taxpayers.”

“Paya (NASDAQ: PAYA), a leading integrated payments and commerce solution provider, today announced the launch of PayaGov, the company’s solutions and domain experts serving government agencies, municipalities, and service providers. The launch is a key milestone in the strategic alignment of Paya’s market-leading government and municipality franchises, and reinforces Paya’s commitment to, and position in, this key vertical.”

“The U.S. is planning to hand out $10 billion to help upstart companies gain access to capital in a bid to rev up business in disadvantaged communities and spur a broader economic recovery from the pandemic. The State Small Business Credit Initiative will direct money to states, territories and tribal governments for programs that provide venture capital or encourage private lenders to issue loans to small firms. The program revives a policy put into place following the 2007-2009 recession, when banks cut back on lending to small firms .”

“Democratic and Republican lawmakers have held early discussions about another round of coronavirus stimulus spending as they seek to blunt the fast-spreading omicron variant and its threats to public health and economic recovery.  The efforts have focused primarily on authorizing billions of dollars to help an array of businesses — including restaurants, performance venues, gyms and even minor league sports teams — that face another potential blow to their already-battered balance sheets as a result of the evolving pandemic.”

“WEX (NYSE: WEX), a leading financial technology service provider, today announced it has been awarded and entered into the state-wide fleet card contract with the State of Minnesota through the NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement. WEX is proud to expand its extensive government contract portfolio and continue working with state-wide fleets.NASPO ValuePoint is the cooperative purchasing arm of the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO).”

“Stop & Shop, a New England grocer with more than 400 stores, said it is enabling online orders for pickup and delivery for customers using electronic benefits transfer payment services in four states. The Quincy, Mass.-based grocer, which is owned by Ahold Delhaize USA Co., said consumers using SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) EBT benefits in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and New York, can shop and pay online. In Connecticut 209,000 individuals are enrolled in the SNAP program. The other states did not disclose how many SNAP enrollees they have.”

“Instacart Inc. is increasing the number of stores where it accepts online payments for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants, moving the online grocery delivery giant into competition with Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.. for a growing pool of consumers using federal assistance to buy food online. The San Francisco-based startup is partnering with three retailers, Publix Super Markets Inc., The Save Mart Companies and Golub Corp.’s Price Chopper/Market 32, to allow Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) payments in more than 1,500 additional U.S. stores. The expansion is about a 60% increase in availability for SNAP online purchasing through Instacart, which began in October with a partnership with ALDI.”

“In April 2020, the Treasury Department made the first pandemic-related stimulus payments within weeks of the bill being signed into law, instead of months, like similar payments in 2008. By the third round of payments in March 2021, the first wave of money landed in bank accounts within a week of the bill becoming law. There is an obvious next question: Why can’t it be even faster? Across the board, money is moving from bank account to bank account more rapidly. Today, the electronic banking system relies in part on two main networks that allow payments to move from one financial institution to another. The Automated Clearing House system typically provides overnight transactions, so Monday’s payments show up in bank accounts on Tuesday. It also increasingly offers same-day payment transfers.”

“The U.S. Treasury said on Monday it has issued the next round of economic impact payments from President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, with many of the payments being mailed in the form of paper checks and debit cards. The Treasury said electronic payments sent by direct deposit in the latest round of disbursements will have an official pay date of Wednesday, March 24, with some recipients seeing them in their bank accounts earlier as pending deposits.”

“Meta Financial Group, Inc.® (Nasdaq: CASH) (the “Company”) today announced that MetaBank®, N.A. (“MetaBank” or the “Bank”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, has again been asked to disburse Economic Impact Payments (“EIP”) through the distribution of prepaid debit cards under a program authorized by the U.S. Congress through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARP Act”).”

“In response to erroneous reports about funds availability, The Clearing House Payments Co., Nacha, and seven other banking and payments groups said Tuesday that Economic Impact Payments from the federal government will start to become available to recipients Wednesday morning. A statement from the nine groups, plus a separate statement from Nacha , the governing body for the automated clearing house network, sought to correct reports on social-media networks and in the press indicating the funds could have been distributed as early as this weekend.”

“BJ’s Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ), a leading operator of membership warehouse clubs in the Eastern United States, announced that it now accepts EBT payments for SNAP eligible items on BJs.com for in-club pickup and curbside pickup orders in Florida and North Carolina. BJ’s members in these states can now seamlessly shop for their groceries on BJs.com for in-club pickup or contactless curbside pickup and use their EBT card for SNAP eligible items at checkout.”

“Many U.S. consumers are starting 2021 flush with savings likely to help fuel the economic recovery this year. The latest federal Covid-19 aid package sent $600 checks to many households that also received relief money last year, while more affluent households have built up pools of cash by curbing their spending during the pandemic.”

“Instacart, the leading online grocery platform in North America, today announced that it will be expanding its Electronic Benefit Transfer and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (EBT SNAP) integration in partnership with ALDI, one of America’s fastest growing retailers. Starting today, EBT SNAP online payment will now be available at nearly 1,000 more ALDI stores across 23 states and Washington, D.C. This latest expansion follows the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s most recent approval allowing Instacart and ALDI to expand this online EBT SNAP pilot.”

“Americans’ cash cushions have been declining for months, most acutely among low-income households, underscoring the already-precarious financial situation of the millions of people who may soon lose their jobless benefits. The median household checking account balance surged by 65% after the arrival of stimulus checks in April, formally known as Economic Impact Payments, but balances have steadily declined since May, according to a report published Wednesday by the JPMorgan Chase Institute.”

“After the Great Recession, California signed an exclusive contract with Bank of America to distribute unemployment benefits through prepaid debit cards. A CalMatters investigation reveals that to this day, no one knows how much the bank has made off the deal. Lawmakers are examining the bank’s role in mass account freezes and untold amounts of missing money for thousands of struggling jobless Californians — as well as where the bank may have failed to keep unemployment money safe from fraud.”

“Instacart is making its grocery delivery and pickup services more accessible to lower-income customers by offering customers the ability to pay for groceries using their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. This is the first time Instacart shoppers have been able to use government assistance programs when paying for groceries, and follows earlier moves by larger retailers, including Amazon, Walmart, and others in extending SNAP EBT to online grocery.”

“Emergency pandemic relief doubled the savings of unemployed Americans over the spring and summer, but most of that cushion was depleted by the end of August, new research shows. In a study released Friday, economists at the University of Chicago and JPMorgan Chase Institute looked at how economic-relief measures enacted this year, including an extra $600 a week in jobless benefits and one-time $1,200 payments to most households, affected the savings and spending of unemployed workers.”

“The stimulus stalemate has left lawmakers at odds over how to get more relief to millions of Americans who need it. Earlier this month, Senate Republicans attempted to get a smaller bill through Congress as the standoff between both parties continued.   But that relief bill did not include a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks, a measure that both parties had all but signed off on. The bill failed to get the 60 votes it needed to advance.”

“This week the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service will send interest payments to about 13.9 million individual taxpayers who timely filed their 2019 federal income tax returns and are receiving refunds. The interest payments, averaging about $18, will be made to individual taxpayers who filed a 2019 return by this year’s July 15 deadline and either received a refund in the past three months or will receive a refund. Most interest payments will be issued separately from tax refunds.”