Digital Currency

FIS Inc. said it is one of the first fintechs certified to offer send capability on credit transfers through the FedNow real-time payments network, operated by the Federal Reserve. The company is offering the new service to bank clients for use by both consumers and commercial clients. Hospitality point-of-sale services specialist Olo said …

Bluefin said it will offer point-to-point encryption capability for the event-management platforms Event Guru and Registration Guru. AstroPay, a Brazil-based cross-border payments fintech, said it has been granted a payment-institution license by the Central Bank of Brazil. Magwitch, a lending-as-a-service platform, has integrated real-time point-of-sale lending technology from U.S. Bank Avvance. …

The pending $35.3-billion merger of Capital One and Discover has concentrated minds in the payments industry for nearly a year, but perhaps nowhere so much as at Mastercard Inc. That became apparent early Thursday as equity analysts quizzed the card network’s top brass about the combination’s potential impact on Mastercard, …

The fintech Codego Ltd. has launched its Cryptogateway software, which enables merchants in 33 countries to accept cross-border in-person and e-commerce transactions in cryptocurrency and receive the funds in fiat money in an IBAN account. IBAN accounts are typically used to hold funds arising from cross-border transactions. The new service, which works …

Cardworks Inc. and its banking unit, Merrick Bank, have agreed to acquire Ally Financial Inc.’s credit card portfolio. The business includes $2.3 billion in receivables and serves 1.3 million active cardholders. Terms were not announced. The card-issuing platform Marqeta Inc. is supporting efforts by Trading 212, a developer of financial apps, to launch …

Point-of-sale terminal maker Sunmi launched several POS devices, including the Flex series, which uses the Android operating system. Bigg Digital Assets Inc., owner of Netcoins, Blockchain Intelligence Group, and TerraZero, said Netcoins Canada is launching eight crypto coins that begin trading Jan. 21.

Reuters is reporting that Apple Inc. is talking to Barclays to become the iPhone maker’s new partner for credit cards, replacing Goldman Sachs. Other financial institutions are said to be candidates as well, including Synchrony. Apple and Goldman launched the Apple card in 2019, but since then Goldman has indicated it will move …

As 2025 begins to unfold, some experts and network providers are beginning to think the year could see a breakthrough for stablecoins, the digital currency generated by a blockchain but with a value tied to a national currency, such as the dollar. That link allows users to deploy digital dollars, …

Payments platform Checkbook has acquired sureti, a provider of technology for the distribution of insurance payouts. Terms were not announced. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it is asking for comment on implementing existing financial privacy law and how to address what it labeled intrusive data collection and personalized pricing. It also wants comment …

A state senator in Oklahoma has introduced the Bitcoin Freedom Act, a bill that would legalize payroll and vendor transactions in Bitcoin in that state. The move follows the state’s passage last May of a Bitcoin Rights bill. FV Bank, a digital financial institution, has expanded its stablecoin offerings with an integration …