The CFPB director should stop imposing politics on payments and stick to his remit. Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in March shared his conjured alternative-payments universe with politically simpatico CNBC. Relishing his celebrity, Chopra held forth on inflation, payment-system competition and fees, and cryptocurrency risk. The …

Digital-currency payments specialist Circle Internet Financial LLC announced it has agreed to new terms with Concord Acquisition Corp., terminating an agreement it had reached with that company in July. The new agreement values Circle at $9 billion, twice the valuation set by the original SPAC combination. The holding company established by the original agreement …

The Western Union Co. is boosting its tie-ins with Mastercard Inc. by integrating the card brand’s direct-to-card and cross-border payments products. Announced Friday, the integration sees Mastercard Send added to broaden Western Union’s payout capabilities in the United States. U.S. recipients of any Western Union transfer will be able to …

Faster-payments providers have long identified insurance-claims payouts as a ripe market, and the business took big step in that direction with the announcement early Monday that the insurance carrier Amerisure has begun implementing ClaimsPay, a digital-payments platform from the 9-year-old fintech One Inc. The four-stage implementation is expected to replace …

The momentum behind real-time payments continues to build with announcements Thursday from Data Center Inc. (DCI), a software provider to community banks, and One Inc., a digital-payments processor for the insurance industry. Community banks using DCI’s banking software can now receive real-time payments through the RTP network, the faster-payments system from …

Apple Inc. said Apple Cash users can now send Instant Transfer payments to Mastercard Inc. debit cards, reported 9to5mac.com. The service had been compatible only with Visa Inc. debit cards prior to Thursday’s announcement. Apple also said it is charging a 1.5% fee for Instant Transfer transactions, up from 1%. Instant Transfer …

Buy now, pay later specialist Afterpay Ltd. said it is now available through its app to customers of Amazon, CVS, Dell, Kroger, Macy’s, Nike, Target, Walgreen’s, and other major brands.EVO Payments Inc. has added automated clearing house processing to its PayFabric gateway. EVO’s ACH processing can be integrated into a merchant’s Web site …

Bank of America Corp.’s decision to introduce fast payouts to consumer accounts globally brings a major financial institution into a market that is attracting increasing interest from an array of payments providers. Pressure for such services has grown more intense with the growth of the gig economy and recent needs …

French processor Worldline S.A. reported its first-quarter merchant-services revenue dropped 8.7% year-over-year to 517 million euros ($621 million), while its terminals and software unit saw a 16.5% decline to 266 million euros ($320 million). Worldline acquired terminal maker Ingenico Group S.A. in October.FIS Inc. said it has won a domestic acquiring license for its Worldpay …

As payments providers ramp up fast-payment capabilities that don’t depend on existing card-payment rails, pressure has mounted on the dominant U.S. card networks to enable quick transfers from senders to accounts held by receivers worldwide. Visa Inc. on Tuesday, for example, announced Visa Direct Payouts, which allows users to send …