“Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf is embarking on his biggest push to expand a major business line since taking over, launching a roster of credit cards aimed at competing with popular products from larger rivals. The first volley is the Active Cash card, offering a flat 2% cash-back rate on all spending, a challenge to Citigroup Inc.’s Double Cash product and a card offered jointly by Synchrony Financial and PayPal Holdings Inc. Wells Fargo will introduce a low-interest-rate card in coming months and a new rewards card line next year.”

“Increased consumer spending online and more digital payments in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have also meant an adverse impact on small and mid-sized retailers and more internet fraud, according to spending tracked by card network behemoth Visa. Following the “massive shift to e-commerce” during the coronavirus outbreak, more than half of spending on Visa cards now occurs online or in situations where the card-user isn’t present for a purchase, compared to more than half being in-person prior to the pandemic, Visa Canada President Stacey Madge said at a global payments conference this week . The company witnessed a year-over-year doubling, or even tripling, of ‘card-not-present’ spending in certain types of transactions such as for groceries.”

“More than half a dozen websites that securities regulators alleged stole money from novice investors in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere have one thing in common: They all used Wirecard AG, the German technology company that collapsed after an alleged multibillion dollar fraud of its own. The websites, which specialized in binary options, all-or-nothing bets on financial markets, collected investors’ money via Wirecard’s card payments network, according to internal documents seen by The Wall Street Journal and former company executives. In one instance, a then-senior Wirecard executive helped set up a separate payments company that stood between investment websites and payments systems such as Wirecard, according to an ex-employee of the separate payments company. The setup helped the investment websites operate with less scrutiny from credit-card networks that monitor transactions, according to the person and a civil lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.”

“Rho Technologies, the high-growth fintech enterprise behind Rho Business Banking *, today announced the launch of the Rho Card , the first-ever, bank-issued corporate card that gives businesses the ability to flexibly manage their cash back, credit terms, company spend controls and policies – all on their terms. This unique corporate card Mastercard was designed to empower business growth while helping manage spend with precision and accountability.”

“Americans are paying down their credit-card debt at levels not seen in years. That is good news for everyone but credit-card issuers. Large card issuers that cater to borrowers ranging from the affluent to the subprime say that overall card balances—and thus the firms’ interest income—are falling. To make up for it, issuers are spending more on marketing and loosening their underwriting standards.”

“A 125,000-point sign-up bonus. Credits for Equinox personal training. An exclusive airport lounge with cold brew on tap. The country’s largest banks are pulling out all the stops to lure customers to take on new credit cards again, after retreating from such deals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Call it the return of the rewards war for credit cards: American Express Co. is dangling the 125,000 point-bonus — a $2,500 value that’s one of the largest ever offered — in front of some new applicants for its higher-end Platinum card. It’s also offering perks for virtual personal-training sessions through luxury gym chain Equinox. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is now offering $120 in credits toward a Peloton Interactive Inc. membership. Capital One Financial Corp. is planning to open its first-ever airport lounge for certain cardholders this summer along with a 100,000-point bonus of its own.”

“Deserve, a fast-growing fintech startup based in Palo Alto, unveiled its Digital First Card, a revolutionary product that can decision consumers in minutes and allow the opportunity for instant spending. The proprietary mobile-first platform will power mobile cards for major co-brand partners, affinity groups, and corporations that want to offer an embedded and seamless credit card experience to their customers or members.”

“As the credit card for pet lovers, Petco Pay, issued by Alliance Data, includes the Petco Pay Mastercard, a co-branded credit card, and the Petco Pay Credit Card, a private label credit card. In addition to many perks, with every purchase made using Petco Pay credit cards, Petco will make a donation to Petco Love (formerly the Petco Foundation), an independent nonprofit organization, to support life-saving initiatives for pets in need. Petco has pledged to donate up to $1 million annually in total to the lifesaving initiatives of Petco Love under the program.”

“Apto Payments, a next-generation cards and payments company, today announced the launch of its Instant Issuance platform, a self-serve, developer platform that allows companies, merchants, financial institutions, and businesses of all sizes and industries to issue debit cards. With Instant Issuance, card programs for challenger banks, employee payroll, rewards and loyalty programs, and many other use cases can be built with just a few hours of development.”

“Mogo Inc. (NASDAQ:MOGO) (TSX:MOGO) (“Mogo” or the “Company”), a digital payments and financial technology company, today announced that its wholly owned payments platform, Carta Worldwide (“Carta”), a modern card issuing platform, is extending their US market deployment with an expanded debit card issuance service offering for fintech “challenger” banks. Carta has partnered with LendingClub Bank, National Association (“LendingClub Bank”), to power the new advanced debit card product offering and help businesses rapidly deploy next-generation digital banking solutions.”

“Chase released the findings from a new study around consumer habits related to recurring payments. The results indicate that consumers increasingly rely on recurring credit card payments, care about knowing where their credit cards are digitally stored, and remain focused on getting a better handle on their finances. Chase credit cardmembers now have new tools to help provide a clearer picture of where their payment information is stored across various online touchpoints.”

“Mastercard is among five companies which broke the law for cartel behaviour when offering pre-paid cards to vulnerable members of society, Britain’s Payment Systems Regulator said on Wednesday. Mastercard, allpay, APS, PFS and Sulion agreed not to compete or poach each other’s customers on cards used by local authorities for welfare payments including to the homeless, victims of domestic violence and asylum seekers, the PSR said. The investigation is ongoing and the companies can make representations on the provisional findings, the PSR said.”

“Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are facing fresh opposition from U.S. retailers in a long-running legal fight over the fees merchants pay each time consumers swipe their credit or debit card at checkout.    The Retail Industry Leaders Association and the National Retail Federation want to join a federal lawsuit filed in 2005 that led Visa, Mastercard and some big banks to agree to pay $5.54 billion to settle the case. While the suit is still in the midst of appeals, the industry’s two largest trade groups said the class of merchants the existing plaintiffs are seeking to certify is too broad and would prevent retailers who don’t like the settlement terms from opting out and taking their own legal action.”

“Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) and JCB International Co., Ltd. – the international operations subsidiary of JCB Co., Ltd., announced the launch of TPBank JCB Credit Card today. The new TPBank JCB Credit Card offers one card grade: Gold card. The holders of TPBank JCB Credit Card can access JCB’s global acceptance network with about 35 million merchants in the world.”

“Banco Santander announced today it is accelerating the rollout of eco-friendly cards in the Europe region, reinforcing its commitment to sustainable and responsible banking and supporting its green transition. By 2025, all debit, credit and pre-paid cards across Poland, Portugal, Spain and the UK will be made of sustainable materials, such as recycled PVC or corn-based plastic substitute.”

“Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is talking to JetBlue Airways Corp. about taking over its credit-card program, according to people familiar with the matter, the latest effort from the Wall Street firm to push deeper into consumer finance. Goldman is competing against Barclays PLC, which is the current issuer of the JetBlue credit cards and is in discussions to hold on to the deal, the people said. Discussions are ongoing, and JetBlue may decide to stick with Barclays. JetBlue’s contract with Barclays doesn’t end for another roughly three years, some of the people said.”

“Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions, today announced that TSYS, its Issuer Solutions business, has signed a multi-year agreement with UMB Bank, a subsidiary of UMB Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: UMBF). Under the agreement, TSYS will provide a range of processing and support services for UMB Bank’s consumer and commercial credit, debit and healthcare card portfolios.”

“Using credit cards stimulates the brain’s reward system and an urge for further spending, according to a recent study from MIT that examined the neuroscience of buying things. Credit card shopping tells us to “step on the gas” and leads to more “purchase cravings” in the future, Drazen Prelec, study author and professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said in a release.”

“Businesses across the US are accepting only cash as their credit-card payments systems are down. Fiserv, one of the leading payments providers in the US, told Insider, “A widespread internet service provider outage has impacted multiple businesses today.” Ann Cave, a company spokesperson, added in an email: “Some Fiserv services that rely on internet connectivity were interrupted. The majority have been restored and we are fully focused on restoring the remainder.” Fiserv declined to name its internet service provider.”