The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued a report highlighting what the agency calls “junk fees” charged by processors when parents add money to students’ school-lunch accounts. Such fees cost families upwards of $100 million a year, according to the CFPB. In its study, the CFPB found that, on average, …

Financial technology provider Kasheesh Inc. on Thursday launched a virtual card that allows consumers to split payments for online purchases across up to five existing credit, debit, and prepaid cards. The card is intended to provide an alternative to buy now, pay later loans.  The Mastercard-branded card can be loaded …

Growth in contactless and peer-to-peer payments, e-commerce, and value-added services were among the highlights discussed with stock analysts late Tuesday during Visa Inc.’s third-quarter earnings call for the card company’s fiscal year 2024. Visa’s Tap-to-Pay contactless payments technology has penetrated multiple markets, accounting for 80% of all face-to-face Visa transactions …

Demand for digital-payment and embedded-finance technology is growing in the United States, especially among Gen Z and Millennials, says a report from payments platform Marqeta Inc. The demand is being driven largely by the lower adoption of contactless payments and mobile-banking apps in the U.S. compared to the United Kingdom …

For the second consecutive quarterly earnings call, executives at Discover Financial Services had little to say about the company’s financial performance, plans going forward, or anything else. With a proposed $35.3-billion merger with Capital One Financial Corp. hanging over them, Discover executives again took no questions, and equity analysts were …

Jifiti, a provider of embedded-financing solutions, is giving a new twist to the buy now, pay later trend with the introduction of Tap Now, Pay Later, a financing tool for large-ticket purchases. Examples include home-remodeling projects, in which funds are loaded into a consumer’s digital wallet via a virtual credit …

Buy now, pay later provider Sezzle Inc. has added Spanish-language capability to its app. The addition is expected to broaden Sezzle’s appeal among Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States. There are more than 40 million Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States, according to Sezzle, while Spanish-speaking customers represent about 22% …

J.D. Power announced early Monday the launch of a mobile-banking app certification program. The program is intended to recognize app providers that deliver an exceptional user experience, the company says. The J.D. Power Mobile App Platform Certification-Banking program rates mobile apps using a set of 146 best-practices benchmarks, including app …

The Electronic Payments Coalition’s attack this week against the Credit Card Competition Act calls out retailers Target Corp. and Walmart as greedy mega-corporate stores that stand to profit at the expense of consumers should the legislation pass. The aggressive tone of the EPC’s “high six-figure” campaign, unleashed this week, signals …

FundKite, a fintech that provides financing to small and medium-size businesses, has broadened its services with the launch of a payment-processing division. The move will enable FundKite to expand its services beyond offering capital to merchants by providing them with a one-stop processing and financing shop, the company says. In …