Payments

In an interview with American Banker following Circle's IPO debut, President Heath Tarbert discussed the stablecoin issuer's go-public timing, the importance of regulation and transparency and how the fintech sees itself working with banks.

The stablecoin issuer's initial public offering is widely seen as a bellwether for the cryptocurrency industry at large. Circle's stock traded as high as $95.98 midday Thursday, nearly triple its $31-a-share pricing.

The payments company hopes to build its brand outside of its U.K. home base while attracting a deeper investor pool.

The card network behemoths and the London-based bank are looking to expand account-to-account payments through fresh partnerships and investments. Plus: President Trump withdraws Shift4 CEO's NASA nomination, and tokenized payments gain steam in Europe in this week's global payments roundup.

The Swedish buy now/pay later provider and the San Jose, California-based payments system separately launched payment cards in an effort to bring their digital finance offerings to brick-and-mortar stores and compete with established credit card issuers.

The payments fintech is partnering with credit unions such as Michigan State Federal Credit Union to offer cash-back rewards on debit transactions using account-to-account payment schemes.

Using watches, wristbands and other accessories at the point of sale is set for a boom, pressuring financial institutions to develop a strategy for the banking tech.

The request for information was issued as part of an executive order aimed at eliminating paper checks as a form of federal payment in most cases, which the administration says aims to curb fraud, modernize disbursements.

A focus on client relationships, rather than products, and investments in AI are helping the company in an increasingly competitive market.

When a card gets canceled or expires, Visa, Mastercard and other networks send replacement information to merchants. This can be a problem for consumers.