Buy now, pay later specialist Affirm Holdings Inc. continues to expand into fashion merchants through a partnership with online fashion-marketplace StockX. Apparel merchants are a fast-growing merchant category for Affirm. The BNPL provider has added 55 apparel sellers in the past six months, including StockX. In addition, transactions in its apparel and …

American Express Co. has acquired software developer Center. Terms of the deal, announced late Thursday, were not disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter. The deal will provide AmEx’s corporate and small-business cardholders with an integrated expense-management platform that delivers real-time visibility into all employee spending, …

E-commerce fraud prevention specialist Riskified has launched Adaptive Checkout, an app created to drive higher conversion rates by reducing false positives. The app leverages artificial intelligence to analyze each transaction based on its risk profile and the shopper’s purchase history. For example, a merchant’s best customers can be sent straight …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau late Tuesday dropped its lawsuit against Early Warning Services LLC, operator of the Zelle person-to-person payments network. The suit had also named Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo as defendants. The financial institutions are three of the seven bank owners of Early Warning. …

Most restaurants feel their current financial technology stack, which includes point-of-sale systems, needs improvement, according to SpotOn Transact LLC’s 2025 Restaurant Business report. SpotOn’s survey found 84% of restaurants say their current financial systems need an overhaul. Of those, nearly half say they should spend more time on financial tracking, …

Zip Co. Ltd. has partnered with GameStop to become the e-commerce retailer’s primary buy now, pay later provider for online and in-store customers in the United States. The deal provides Zip with a ready-made customer base, as about 84% of Zip users in the U.S. shop on GameStop for gaming …

Flexa Inc., a digital-payments provider, has introduced tap-to-pay for cryptocurrency transactions. The contactless-payment method enhances digital-asset usability by enabling blockchain payments via NFC-enabled hardware wallets without a mobile phone or internet connection, the company says. Hardware wallets, known also as burner wallets, are physical devices that store private keys for …

Generation Y and Generation Z are the biggest users of buy now, pay later, according to J.D. Power’s annual BNPL satisfaction study. Some 42% of both generations use BNPL products, compared to 21% of consumers from other generations, the study says. Both generations tend to favor BNPL over credit cards …

With expectations growing that the Credit Card Competition Act will soon be reintroduced in Congress, proponents of the bill feel its prospects for passage are better than ever. Helping fuel this optimism is growing bipartisan support for the bill, proponents say. “The Senate Judiciary Committee [hearing in November] showed there …

SoundHound AI Inc., a provider of artificial intelligence-based voice technology apps, strengthened its hand in the hotly competitive restaurant point-of-sale market early Tuesday with the introduction of an enhanced platform. The new platform will provide restaurants with the ability to connect all ordering channels to provide a “unified customer experience” …