Amazon to Launch Pay-By-Palm Technology at All Whole Foods Stores by Year-End
Amazon will let shoppers pay with their palms at all Whole Foods stores by the end of the year. Amazon One is a biometric technology that lets users enter and pay for items at stores by placing a palm over a scanning device. Shoppers first have to connect their palm to a stored credit card. After that, they can pay by simply waving their hand over the kiosk. Amazon One is now in more than 200 Whole Foods locations, and the company said it will be available in all of the upscale grocer’s roughly 500 stores in the coming months. [CNBC]
Americans Are Hiding Their Credit Card Debt
One-third of Americans with credit card debt say no one else knows how much they owe, according to a new report. The nation’s credit card balance hovers around $1 trillion, and interest rates routinely top 20 percent. A rising share of cardholders carry a balance from one month to the next. And many consumers, it seems, would rather not share those facts. Two in 5 Americans think credit card debt is embarrassing, according to a NerdWallet report. Credit card debt carries a growing stigma, polls suggest. An earlier NerdWallet survey found that one-third of married Americans with card debt haven’t told their spouse what they owe. In the new report, two-fifths of respondents said it would be all right to have a credit card a partner doesn’t know about. [The Hill]
‘Untaxed Kickback’? Washington Goes to War over Rewards Programs
The Biden administration and key lawmakers are stepping up their fight against credit card fees that they say are slamming consumers and stifling competition. But their ability to hack away at more than $130 billion in swipe fees and late penalties that banks and card companies charge each year could hinge on something Americans love: rewards programs that subsidize everything from airline travel to groceries. The issue is sparking a major lobbying battle in Washington, with Wall Street unleashing a wave of ads across television, radio and social networks to convince consumers that the push to curb fees would sharply limit funding for the rewards programs. [Politico]
JPMorgan Chase Says There Are More Credit Cards with Outstanding Balances. They Say It’s a Normal Thing.
JPMorgan Chase on Friday reported a double-digit percentage gain in outstanding credit card balances as not a sign of trouble, but an indicator of normal trends returning as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to fade. JPMorgan Chase executives summed up the state of consumer credit quality as “normalization not deterioration” although a mix of factors continue to cloud their economic outlook, as part of the bank’s stronger-than-expected second-quarter results. The comment reflects that the ability of the bank’s customers continue to pay back their debts at expected levels, and that credit quality is not getting any worse at the moment. Card outstandings rose 18% as a result of “revolved normalization” as well as new account growth. [MarketWatch]
Buy Now/Pay Later Loans Are Becoming Riskier
Buy now/pay later loans boomed during the pandemic by enabling shoppers to stretch their budgets through simple advances repaid in four installments with no interest. But BNPL loans recently have moved into far riskier territory, according to a new Consumer Reports white paper. About one in 10 BNPL loans now carry an interest rate, and some BNPL loans carry interest rates as high as 36.99% and large loans can be extended for up to 60 months, with late-payment fees of $30, making certain BNPL loans more expensive than credit card financing, Consumer Reports said. Affirm, Klarna, PayPal and Sezzle are among the BNPL lenders that in recent years began offering more loans with higher interest and longer terms. Because these companies’ marketing and branding tends to emphasize the simpler “pay in 4” model, consumers could be misled. [American Banker]
Bank of America Reports Profit Jump on Higher Interest Rates
Bank of America, one of the nation’s largest lenders, on Tuesday reported across-the-board strength in its latest quarter, with sales and profit that surpassed analysts’ expectations, like the three megabanks that reported their earnings last week. Rising interest rates and expanded lending bolstered Bank of America’s profit in the second quarter, even as the company paid higher rates on deposits and increased its cushion against bad loans, which are rising compared with last year but remained below prepandemic levels. [The New York Times]
GOP Governor Who Promised Gift Cards for Donations Clears Threshold for First Debate
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, the former software company CEO who promised $20 gift cards to supporters, said he had secured the 40,000 unique donors needed to appear at next month’s first Republican presidential debate. Burgum unveiled the unusual, and potentially problematic, fundraising strategy earlier this month, pledging to mail donors the gift cards if they simply donated $1 to his presidential campaign. The governor told CBS News on Wednesday that his strategy was merely an “entrepreneurial approach” to a presidential candidacy. [HuffPost]
Block’s Suit Against Visa and Mastercard May Have a Bigger Target
Block is taking Visa and Mastercard to court, claiming the card networks are using their power to unfairly influence fees, an argument that comes as Congress considers updating rules to encourage more competition in the payments market. Block, which acts as a merchant on behalf of thousands of mostly small businesses that use it to accept payments, follows the examples of Amazon and Walmart in using its scale to battle card network tolls. Block alleges Visa and Mastercard enforce “Honor All Cards” rules, meaning any merchant that accepts a bank’s general-purpose card must accept general-purpose cards for all other banks. “These ‘all or nothing rules’ constitute agreements among the banks to not compete for merchants’ acceptance of their general purpose cards,” Block said in its suit. [American Banker]
As Mastercard Enters the Subscription Management Space, Companies Dedicated to the Space Are Eyeing It with Interest
Last week, Mastercard announced that it will be partnering with fintech Subaio to offer a subscription management tool. The subscription economy saw a boom during the pandemic and is expected to hit $12.5 billion by 2026. Even though the intent to cancel subscriptions has solidified for a lot of customers, actually doing it is a separate story. This is because customers have quite a few subscriptions across different platforms and categories. On average, consumers have an estimated 12 subscriptions in the media and entertainment category alone, according to Statista. As consumers stack subscriptions across platforms, visibility into total expenditure on subscription reduces. Mastercard’s involvement, however, not only underscores the growing use case for such services but also adds to the competition that smaller companies face. [Tear Sheet]
Biden Urged to Tackle Medical Debt Beyond Credit Cards
The Biden administration’s investigation into medical credit cards has drawn praise from consumer groups, but they want it to move quickly, and more broadly, to address the issue of medical debt. About 20% of Americans have medical debt, according to the CFPB. The issue has garnered increased attention as health care costs continue to rise, providers get criticized for questionable billing practices and insurers get blamed for denying coverage and raising copays and deductibles. The Biden administration is trying to address the issue in part by targeting medical credit cards, which have been around for decades but are becoming more prolific as more providers promote them in their offices as a way to pay for care and out-of-pocket costs not covered by insurance. [Roll Call]
Karat Financial Raises $70 Million and Teams with Visa on Credit Cards for Creators
Karat Financial, a financial services platform for creators, has raised $70 million in a combination of debt and equity financing aimed at building a new kind of personal credit card. Karat also announced a partnership with Visa, designed specifically to help content creators establish personal credit history and improve access to capital. The card is one of several tools offered by Karat to support the $250 billion creator economy, which has faced significant challenges in accessing credit from conventional banks that typically require a consistent monthly income and focus on traditional revenue streams. [Venture Beat]
Billboard Partners with Mastercard to Showcase Emerging Artists
Billboard and Mastercard are teaming up to put the spotlight on emerging artists. Under a new partnership announced Thursday, five artists who took part in the previously-announced Mastercard Artist Accelerator program will perform on a livestream to be hosted on Billboard‘s YouTube channel, which boasts more than 3.7 million subscribers. The Mastercard Artist Accelerator program was created to offer developing artists the tools to thrive in a tech-driven era. Participating acts represent a range of genres and geographies; all were chosen because of their unique stories, sounds and inclusion-oriented mindsets. [Billboard]
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