“Credit card company Petal closed on more than $126.6 million in debt facility backed by Silicon Valley Bank and Trinity Capital that will enable it to expand its credit card programs. Founded in 2016, New York-based Petal aims to make financial services more accessible, allowing people to build credit and spend responsibly. The company uses machine learning to expand credit access, particularly to those who are new to credit and overlooked by big banks.”

“Marqeta is expanding into the consumer credit card space to help other brands launch credit card programs.  The move comes just days after the payment card issuing company reportedly filed confidentially for an initial public offering, making it the latest fintech to make a move to the public markets.”

“Jiko today announced that it has processed a massive $4.7 million debit card transaction as part of its newly launched Debit Cards Cashback Rewards Program. A tax payment to the IRS made with a Jiko Debit Card, this single transaction resulted in $47,000 cash back to the customer, deposited directly into the customer’s account for immediate spending.”

“Wells Fargo & Co. is opting to keep its private-label credit card unit after reaching out to potential buyers last year, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The unit strikes agreements with retailers so that shoppers can buy merchandise such as jewelry, appliances and furniture on credit. Even after San Francisco-based Wells Fargo had started to reach out to possible bidders, the lender hadn’t made a final decision on a sale, people familiar with the talks said in November.”

“The total value of the global plastic cards market has fallen by US$3bn over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the number manufactured worldwide falling by 19.7% from 37.1bn in 2019 to 29.8bn in 2020, according to the International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA).”

“With people traveling less and spending more on digital platforms, banks with big credit-card units may have lost some relative luster with investors. But they still have cards to play. JPMorgan Chase recently acquired the global loyalty division of cxLoyalty Group Holdings. That business serves credit-card rewards programs and helps connect them to a number of ways that rewards can be used.”

“DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG), a leader in the digital sports entertainment and gaming industry known for its top-rated daily fantasy sports and mobile sports betting apps, today announced an agreement with InComm Payments , a global leading payments technology company, to launch an industry-first retail gift card. The launch will expand DraftKings’ presence in convenience stores like 7-Eleven, Speedway, Dollar General, and Sheetz, and also enable consumers to gift the DraftKings experience to others in $25 and $50 denominations.”

“InComm Payments, a global leading payments technology company, today announced it has launched an enhanced customer experience for VanillaGift.com by offering custom gift card options and integrating Vanilla Visa® Gift Cards on select mobile wallets, marking it as the first open-loop Visa gift card to do so. This functionality will allow Vanilla Visa® Gift Card recipients to conveniently add their cards to their device’s mobile wallet apps and transact touch-free when redeeming the gift card.”

“According to the October 2020 Gift Card Gauge released today by Fiserv, Inc., 65% of U.S. consumers say they will purchase a digital gift card on Black Friday if a merchant offers an incentive, one of several key findings in the new survey…The Gift Card Gauge from Fiserv, a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, tracks consumer perceptions and attitudes about gift cards.”

“US consumers are continuing to pay down their credit cards as the pandemic crimps spending opportunities, leaving banks fretting over the outlook for one of their most profitable businesses. Total card loans held by US banks stood at $755bn in the last week of October, according to the Federal Reserve — $100bn lower than when the pandemic took hold — and balances have drifted lower in three of the past four weeks.”

“Wells Fargo & Co. is exploring selling a unit offering store-branded credit cards as the bank chooses businesses to keep or break off in a broad strategic overhaul, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The unit providing so-called private-label cards and point-of-sale financing strikes agreements with retailers so that shoppers can buy merchandise such as jewelry, appliances and furniture on credit. The bank has started reaching out directly to possible bidders, the people said, asking to not be named because talks are private.”