Credit Cards

Citing the risk to their businesses from the coronavirus pandemic, securities rating agency Fitch Ratings revised its outlook to negative for seven publicly traded consumer-finance companies, including American Express Co., Discover Financial Services, and Synchrony Financial.Main Event Entertainment Inc. issued a notification indicating malware collected data from cards used on point-of-sale devices for food-and-beverage and entertainment …

Mastercard Inc. managed to remain profitable in the first quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic began to sweep the world, and its volume and transaction data for April indicate a possible bottoming out of the steep decline in consumer and business spending. U.S. dollar volume switched over Mastercard’s network in the …

Early Warning Services LLC said enrollments in its Zelle peer-to-peer payments network since early March are increasing at “more than double-digit rates above average” as stay-at-home users deploy the service to reimburse neighbors for groceries and canceled events and send money to friends and relatives who need cash. Some 837 financial institutions have …

The onset of the novel coronavirus has caused a seismic shift in the daily lives of Americans. While recent data in the fight against this pandemic are encouraging, we’re not out of the woods yet, and we will be slow to return to life as we once knew it. Social …

A trend toward a near-total collapse in travel-and-entertainment spending helped drive down overall first-quarter card volume and discount revenue for American Express Co., the company reported Friday. “March was a very difficult month,” Stephen Squeri, AmEx’s chairman and chief executive, told stock analysts during a morning conference call. As with …

Independent sales organization Electronic Merchant Systems said it is working with Womply, a software and data-services provider for small businesses, to help merchants find lenders offering quick access to loan applications through the government’s Paycheck Protection Program, a Covid-19 relief effort.For the first time, ransomware incidents overtook payment card data when comparing the …

Discover cardholders might not jet around the country like many American Express cardholders do, but it’s still telling that Discover’s travel spending volume has plunged 99% this month as governmental stay-at-home orders and business closures to control the Covid-19 pandemic chill the economy. The near grounding of travel spending was …

Payroc LLC said it acquired Gateway Payments LLC, an independent sales organization with merchants primarily along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Terms were not disclosed.Weave Communications Inc., a provider of payments and other services for small businesses, said its Weave Lite tool set will be offered free for 90 days. Weave …

American Express Co. launched “Stand for Small,” a platform of more than 40 companies who have agreed to lend expertise to small businesses impacted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.The World Bank predicted in a new report that global remittances will fall by about 20% this year because of the economic crisis …

The nation’s largest issuer of store cards sounded a note of optimism Tuesday as the Covid-19 crisis continued to ravage consumer spending. “Believe it or not, there are deals in the pipeline [with merchants],” said Margaret Keane, chief executive of Synchrony Financial. “We’re not sitting back. We’re highly engaged.” Keane …