Wells Fargo Co. said overall levels of optimism among small businesses remain at just more than half where they were late last year, even though its Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index rose 12 points for the second straight quarter in the latest period.As local governments imposed measures to control fresh outbreaks …

Overall U.S. credit card use dipped 2% for the week ending Nov. 29 compared with the week ending Dec. 1, 2019, according to the Tracking Transaction Trends report from PSCU, a credit union service organization. Meanwhile, debit card use increased 4.9% for the same period. Regionally, the largest credit card drop was …

Processor Stripe Inc. launched Stripe Treasury, a banking-as-a-service platform for its merchants, which can open Stripe Balance business accounts. Stripe is working with Evolve Bank & Trust on the service. Merchants can open interest-bearing accounts eligible for FDIC insurance in minutes. Commerce platform Shopify Inc. is one of the first to offer …

The Accredited Standards Committee X9 Inc. said it is seeking participants for a newly-formed a study group on faster and real-time payments. The ASC X9 develops national and international standards for the financial-services industry.Payments-technology provider Payfacto Payments Inc. has partnered with Community Federal Savings Bank to launch a merchant-acquiring unit for the U.S. market …

Sysnet Global Solutions said it acquired the Managed Complication Solutions division of ControlScan Inc. With the acquisition, Sysnet said almost 4 million small and mid-size businesses and payment processing companies use its services. Terms were not disclosed.Fido Merchant Services, a United Kingdom-based payment gateway and merchant services provider, is embarking on …

The Libra Association, the organization behind the Libra cryptocurrency project, said it is renaming itself Diem, Latin for “day.” Acknowledging pressure from governments and regulators worldwide, the association this spring changed course on several key strategies, setting out new plans for single-currency stablecoins and a stronger compliance regime.Commerce platform Shopify Inc. said its merchants had …

Commerce platform Shopify Inc. reported $2.4 billion in global Black Friday sales, a 75% increase from 2019. Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving. Mobile sales accounted for 68% of U.S. transactions and desktop, 32%. Top U.S. cities were New York, Los Angeles, and Vernon, Calif. The average ticket of $93.80 was …

Some 81% of U.S. consumers have used a one-click payment method while shopping online, with 37% using the method “frequently,” according to a survey earlier this month of 961 consumers by The Strawhecker Group and the Electronic Transactions Association.Switched dollar volume and switched transaction volume for Mastercard Inc. in the week ending Nov. 21 were both …

Payment Alliance International Inc. said its fleet of more than 95,000 ATMs will redeem Bitcoin for cash under an agreement with B4U Financial LLC, whose BitLoad4U technology will manage authorization, clearing, and settlement and allow redemption from any cryptocurrency mobile wallet.A Bitcoin variant called Bitcoin Latinum announced a pre-sale launch with availability on exchanges in …

Visa Inc. has formed a partnership with virtual-payments technology provider Conferma Pay to launch Visa Commercial Pay, a venture in virtual commercial cards. Available globally, the suite will be available from Visa’s financial institution clients. Visa and Conferma Pay have a long-standing relationship. “Consumerization of [business-to-business] payments has significantly accelerated during …