The PaymentsJournal Podcast

Direct Deposit has been a part of our banking system for more than two decades, and employers commonly use it to issue employees their wages directly into their bank accounts. Today, Direct Deposits can be used to pay taxes, bills, and other charges. “Direct Deposit has been around for quite some time and it’s very […] The post How Millennials Can Benefit from Direct Deposit appeared first o...

It’s been about five years since real-time payments (RTP) became a reality in the U.S., and their popularity and adoption continue to skyrocket. According to a survey U.S. Bank  conducted among 1,000 financial executives across various industries in May and June of 2022, 56% said they will adopt real-time payments by 2024. Furthermore, 41% of […] The post Why Businesses Need to Adopt Re...

Faster payments and the user experience are the differentiators that will enable banks and credit unions to remain relevant and competitive. We’ve seen this gradual shift during the past decade as modern payments have undergone a significant transformation based on consumer expectations. And in the past few years, in particular, the shift has accelerated as […] The post Faster Payments Are S...

The year 2022 was one of global financial uncertainty and risk, and 2023 may bring more of the same. For executives in payments risk management, planning for the year ahead should involve taking this geopolitical and financial uncertainty into account and planning accordingly. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Sudhir Jha, senior vice president and head […] The post How AI can Help Manage...

Cryptocurrencies have moved from a speculative asset to a practical one. One area in which crypto can serve and improve is the current business-to-business (B2B) payments space. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Daniel Artin, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Boost, and Elly Aiala, Chief Compliance Officer at Boost, joined Steve Murphy, Director of Commercial […] The post Crypto...

To sustain their operations, businesses have more than their fair share of challenges to confront. With a recession imminent, climbing interest rates, supply chain disruptions, and a turbulent global climate, business executives have many AR issues to address, along with just keeping enough cash on hand. To get an in-depth look at what executives are […] The post Digitizing AR Would Address...

Most of the narrative within the fintech and crypto space revolves around the decline of cash. But is cash really declining? Countries that have attempted to go cashless, such as Sweden, have backtracked these efforts to ensure that consumers still have access to cash when the occasion calls for it. “Cash is on the increase,” […] The post Accessibility to Cash Is Still King appeared first on...

For financial institutions, focusing on digital transformation has become extremely important. The shift to digitization accelerated during the pandemic when many people weren’t stepping foot into physical bank locations, keeping most of their interactions with banks virtual. PaymentsJournal recently sat with Whitney Stewart Russell, President of Digital Solutions at Fiserv, and Steve Murphy, Dire...

As the holiday season approaches, merchants should be aware that as overall sales increase, so will fraud. In fact, the holiday season is an opportune time for fraudsters to strike. And merchants need to plan accordingly so that they are not overwhelmed. Fortunately, certain strategies and tools can help merchants adjust their fraud procedures. They […] The post Capturing Fraud During the Ho...

Fraud continues to pound embattled financial institutions, which are aiming to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated attacks. More organizations are realizing that fraud prevention tools and strategies must remain top of mind, which means investing heavily on the most effective tools on the market today. Great strides have been made thanks to powerful tools such […] The post Data Sharing...

In the event of a possible recession, it’s important for acquirers to make their businesses as efficient as possible. Increasing sales is one important part of that, but so is reducing transaction fraud. Yet, being overzealous with transaction fraud detection has its risks. If false declines on transactions are too high, customers become frustrated and […] The post Optimizing Transaction Fra...

The regulatory compliance world can be very complex, and with the rapid expansion of digital payments, it’s increasingly difficult to identify and stop fraudulent transactions from occurring. Technological solutions continue to evolve at an equally breakneck speed. But they have failed to keep up with the rapid-fire payments made by bad actors. This forces compliance […] The post Regulatory...

Within the banking industry, it’s important to secure hardware as soon as you need it. This will ensure your operations continue to run at peak performance and to meet compliance requirements. Unfortunately, the procurement process has become slow and cumbersome for many financial institutions. This is due to supply chain snags, disparate systems and lack […] The post Expediting the Hardware...

For most financial institutions, modernization and digital transformation are top priorities, yet many still struggle in these efforts. Many are unsure where to start and also wary of the potential risks with modernizing legacy systems. Therefore, a large number of banks and credit unions are still in the beginning or exploratory phase of digital transformation. […] The post How Banks Can Ac...

Data is the driving force behind key strategic decisions for any business. But, businesses have a tough time turning the wealth of data and insights into something actionable and tangible. How can cloud data help? Through their partnership, Mastercard and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are equipping organizations with the most up-to-date location and spending insights. […] The post Cloud Data Acc...

In traditional government disbursements and emergency payments, prepaid cards played a significant role in accelerating federal economic impact payments (EIP). This was particularly seen during the COVID-19 relief aid. Prepaid cards are faster, more secure, and more cost-effective than paper checks. And they offer benefits to the recipient as well as the agency. They’re also […] The post How...

Fintech applications are taking the lead in digitization of the bill pay space. They now offer improvements in digital bill viewing and bill payment over what banks have traditionally offered. For these reasons, many customers are paying billers directly through fintech applications. In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Marcell King, Chief Innovation Officer at Paymentus, and Brian […]...

For the fifth year in a row, PSCU sought to better understand payment method preferences among consumers, and what factors — whether it’s different life stages or economic events — are driving adoption. For its 2022 Eye on Payments study, PSCU surveyed 1,750 credit union members and nonmembers within the U.S. and found that choice […] The post Key Findings from PSCU Study Reveal Changing Pay...

Fintech companies are seeing the value in payments collaboration, making payment capabilities more accessible through the latest technological innovations. This type of collaboration has worked well for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Plaid. In a recent conversation, Mark Smith, Head of Payments Business and Market Development at AWS, John Anderson, Head of Payments at Plaid, […] The post AWS...

Instantaneous movement is technically impossible, but real-time payments get pretty close. Real-time payments (RTP) are financial transactions that are settled almost instantaneously. They use separate digital network “rails” to process payments 24/7 every day of the year. Real-time payments are fast, which is helpful to companies and individuals that either want to pay or receive […] The po...

This article is part 2 on the topic of Holiday Spending Insights 2022. Click HERE for part 1. The holiday shopping season is already upon us, and it is poised to be the biggest one yet. Consumers are planning to spend 8% more this year on holiday gifts than last year. This is despite factors […] The post How Gen Z Is Influencing the 2022 Holiday Shopping Season – and Why They Love Gift Cards...

The world continues to move further away from COVID-19 pandemic-induced restrictions. It is moving back into a state of somewhat normalcy. The 2022 holiday season will take on interesting new trends in gifting and how those holiday gifts are paid for. In fact, 58% of consumers are planning to change their shopping behavior. They are […] The post Gift Cards Will Be a Focal Point This 2022 Hol...

Frauds that use credit-push are on the rise. Every participant in the payments ecosystem needs to be aware of how to identify and help stop this crime. Credit-push fraud differs from traditional debit fraud, wherein a bank account makes unauthorized payments. In credit-push fraud, the criminal uses social engineering or phishing attacks. They use these […] The post How to Stop the Scourge of...

Enabling real-time payments is vital for any bank or credit union to remain competitive. Consumers have grown accustomed to sending and receiving real-time payments through a variety of fintechs, such as peer-to-peer (P2P) payment apps. Demand for real-time payments has become even greater lately, as inflation makes the need to receive cash quickly more vital, […] The post The Value of Partn...

The U.S. — and much of the world — is facing an inflationary environment not seen in more than 40 years. Persistent, high inflation is proving to be stubborn and shows no sign of slowing down. This greatly affects businesses buying goods and services because it increases their prices and makes running their business more […] The post Rethinking Commercial Credit Cards in a High Inflation Env...