Amazon debuts ‘pay with palm’ technology at Seattle Whole Foods locations

Amazon debuts ‘pay with palm’ technology at Seattle Whole Foods locations

As consumers get more comfortable with cashless payment methods as the pandemic enters its second year, Amazon is launching a new biometric payment method called Amazon One at Seattle Whole Foods stores.

Read More

Brian Brooks, former acting OCC head, to become Binance.US CEO

Brian Brooks, former acting OCC head, to become Binance.US CEO

In the latest indication that the mainstream finance world and crypto ecosystem are coming together, cryptocurrency exchange Binance.US has tapped former banking regulator Brian Brooks as its new CEO, effective May 1.

Read More

‘Buy now, pay later’ company Affirm acquires returns platform Returnly for $300M

‘Buy now, pay later’ company Affirm acquires returns platform Returnly for $300M

San Francisco-based Affirm, which offers ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) financing for consumer purchases, announced that it will acquire Returnly, a returns platform that allows customers to get instant store credit even before a return is processed.

Read More

PayPal’s Venmo rolls out in-app crypto buying and selling capabilities

PayPal’s Venmo rolls out in-app crypto buying and selling capabilities

Venmo, the popular peer-to-peer payments app owned by PayPal that counts 70M users, today announced that users can buy, hold and, sell cryptocurrency directly within the Venmo app.

Read More

MPOWER Financing teams up with Sallie Mae to offer student loans to international students in the US

MPOWER Financing teams up with Sallie Mae to offer student loans to international students in the US

Sallie Mae, which provides credit-based private student loan products to international and DACA students who apply with an eligible U.S. citizen or permanent resident co-signer, is working with fintech MPOWER Financing to deliver loans to “high promise” international students across 350 universities and colleges in cases where a co-signer is not available.

Read More

Goldman invests $69M in Starling Bank as it expands European footprint

Goldman invests $69M in Starling Bank as it expands European footprint

Goldman Sachs, whose Marcus digital banking brand in the U.K. recently reopened savings accounts deposits after a nearly 8-month pause, is investing £50M ($69M) in neobank Starling, barely a month after Starling closed a $381M funding round.

Read More

Mastercard to acquire identity-verification firm Ekata for $850M

Mastercard to acquire identity-verification firm Ekata for $850M

Payments giant Mastercard plans to acquire Ekata, a 2-year-old Seattle based company that focuses on APIs and SaaS digital-identity solutions that help more than 2,000 businesses and partners combat cyberfraud.

Read More

Lawmakers raise alarm over charters for fintech and crypto companies

Lawmakers raise alarm over charters for fintech and crypto companies

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-California), who is chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, raised concerns over banking charters for fintech and crypto companies at a subcommittee hearing on the topic this week.

Read More

Chase poaches head of product from Goldman’s Marcus

Chase poaches head of product from Goldman’s Marcus

Marcus by Goldman Sachs, which likens itself to a fintech startup operating inside a large bank, is these days looking more like a legacy bank unit facing a flight of talent – the latest being head of product Sonali Divilek.

Read More

Coinbase poised to go public in watershed moment for crypto industry

Coinbase poised to go public in watershed moment for crypto industry

Banks like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo are reporting blockbuster profits today, but their earnings reports are being overshadowed by a milestone moment for the crypto industry as Coinbase – the first major cryptocurrency company in the U.S. to go public – began trading on the Nasdaq.

Read More

Citi allows corporate clients to track the trajectories of their digital payments

Citi allows corporate clients to track the trajectories of their digital payments

As digital business payments surge during the pandemic, Citibank is helping its clients gain more visibility into payment paths, reminiscent of the process to track shipments of physical goods.

Read More

Black Wall Street app to offer investors wealth management, crypto offerings

Black Wall Street app to offer investors wealth management, crypto offerings

Hill Harper, an actor who plays Dr. Marcus Andrews on the ABC medical show The Good Doctor, is launching an investing and payments app geared toward minority communities, particularly Black and Latinx consumers.

Read More

Mastercard launches carbon calculator for banks

Mastercard launches carbon calculator for banks

Mastercard is teaming up with Sweden-based fintech Doconomy on the launch of the Mastercard Carbon Calculator, a feature which banks can embed into their apps.

Read More

Walmart hires Citi cards and lending executive as it shores up internal fintech startup

Walmart hires Citi cards and lending executive as it shores up internal fintech startup

Walmart has tapped Citi executive Julia Unger as its vice president of financial services. Unger spent more than 18 years at Citi, most recently as head of global cards and unsecured lending.

Read More

Home improvement financing platform PowerPay originates more than $1B in loans

Home improvement financing platform PowerPay originates more than $1B in loans

PowerPay, a King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based home improvement financing fintech has hit a $1B milestone in loans originated on its platform as it eyes additional products and services, including insurance and other types of lending products.

Read More