Law and Regulation

Online attacks in which criminals seize control of victims’ data are rising, and government agencies are far from immune. That’s now leading states to consider laws prohibiting state agencies from paying ransoms to get the decryption key that would unlock what are often vital files. North Carolina in May and …

A startup rent-payment processor called RentSpree closed on $17.3 million in Series B funding led by Green Visor Capital. The company projects it will process more than $160 million in rent payments over the next 12 months.Truist Financial Corp. launched Truist Invest and Truist Invest Pro, an automated investment advisory service and a …

To make modern fraud detection technology more accessible to community banks, Jack Henry & Associates Inc. late Thursday announced plans to launch early next year Financial Crimes Defender, a cloud-native platform for detecting fraud and other suspicious account activity that can hurt consumer’s financial health, as well as financial crimes, such …

The ATM world is about to get another publicly held company. Bitcoin Depot, a Bitcoin ATM operator with more than 7,000 machines in the United States and Canada, intends to go public in a merger with GSR II Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company.  Announced Thursday, the proposed deal …

The drive to create a data security standard designed for digital financial services applications that use cloud-computing, such as open banking, continues to gain momentum. Anecdotes AI Ltd, Codat Ltd., Skyflow Inc., and Very Good Security Inc. are the latest digital finance companies to join a group of financial technology …

Digital identity, new ways to move funds, the speedy pace of innovation, and changing consumer payment preferences are all quickly altering the payments arena, suggests the latest payments report from Deloitte Consulting LLP. “The things that really stood out the most for us when we looked at the data is …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a petition with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking to require Block Inc. to fully comply with the CFPB’s demands for information related to Block’s Cash App product, according to Bloomberg. Block said it is “disappointed” with the action and …

The regulated online sports-betting and casino market in the United States has exploded in recent years following the Supreme Court’s repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) back in 2018. This repeal put the power to regulate single-event sports betting in state hands, with many subsequently passing …

Blackhawk Network has received approval to offer its sports-betting gift card line, including its 2-year-old Game On card, in New York and Louisiana.Community Brands, a software and payments platform for nonprofits and schools, announced it has acquired BigSIS, a vendor of management software for educational institutions. Terms were not disclosed.Payments-technology provider Quisitive …

For years, payments fintechs with a bank charter have labored under a requirement that, for money movement, deposit-taking, and other related services, they largely had to work with another federally chartered bank. This week, the nation’s top banking regulator announced an important change to its rules that could sweep away …