The initiative will begin in Europe and Latin America, with plans to expand to the Middle East, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This partnership will provide Uber drivers with competitive pricing and financing options for BYD vehicles, representing a major advancement in Uber’s commitment to sustainable transportation.

Uber, which claims to run world’s largest on-demand EV network, and BYD, a global EV manufacturer, are teaming up to overcome the obstacles that have slowed the broader adoption of electric vehicles.

The partnership is designed to enhance the overall EV experience for drivers. Beyond offering competitive vehicle pricing, the collaboration may include benefits such as discounts on charging infrastructure, vehicle maintenance and insurance, as well as flexible financing and leasing options tailored to the specific needs of each market.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi highlighted the scale and impact of the agreement.

“As the largest global agreement of its kind, we’re thrilled about the benefits this partnership will deliver for drivers, riders and cities,” he said in a statement. “When an Uber driver makes the switch to an EV, they can deliver up to four times the emissions benefits compared to a regular motorist, simply because they are on the road more. Many riders also tell us their first experience with an EV is on an Uber trip, and we’re excited to help demonstrate the benefits of EVs to more people around the world.”

Uber and BYD share a commitment to innovating toward a cleaner, greener world. Stella Li, executive vice president of BYD and CEO of BYD Americas, said she is excited about the partnership.

“We are elated to join forces with a global leader like Uber to not only accelerate the transition to electric vehicles but also to make green transportation accessible and affordable for everyone,” she stated. “This collaboration marks a new era in the electrification of urban mobility, and we look forward to seeing our cutting-edge EVs become a common sight on the streets of cities worldwide.”

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The agreement allows for SEPA instant payments to all participating credit unions in the Republic of Ireland, the companies said in a Tuesday (July 30) news release.

“As a result of this partnership, 176 credit unions of all sizes will use Nexi’s Instant Payments platform which will allow credit union members to make instant money transfers,” per the release.

“In addition, credit unions will benefit from Nexi’s anti-fraud service, which is designed to identify and manage potentially fraudulent payments through real-time analysis of transactions.”

Renato Martini, digital banking solutions director at Nexi, noted that instant payments represent a major opportunity in the continuous evolution of payment services, with these payments poised to grow following new regulations in Europe.

“The provision of this service continues our mission to place the interests of credit unions front and center of our business model and ensure credit unions are equipped to meet the deadlines for the implementation of Instant Payments in Ireland in 2025,” added Seamus Newcombe, CEO of Payac.

“It ensures that credit unions can offer Irish consumers a competitive alternative to financial services offered by the domestic banks.”

PYMNTS examined the concept of payments modernization in the credit union (CU) space in a recent conversation with Scott P. Young, senior vice president of emerging services at Velera.

Known for their community-focused and member-centric approach, CUs are facing unique opportunities and challenges as they explore payments modernization, Young said. Convenience, speed and security, as well as value, are becoming increasingly crucial as customer expectations evolve.

“Ultimately, we want to meet the behavior that is driving the need for a payment and be there to accommodate different payment rails, while adding value-added services around that,” he said.

Another crucial  aspect of payment modernization is the adoption of instant payment systems, such as the Federal Reserve’s FedNow® Service and The Clearing House’s RTP® network. These systems allow for real-time payments, particularly beneficial for credit unions.

Young pointed to examples such as real-time payroll, earned wage access and government disbursements, stressing that these capabilities can bolster credit union member satisfaction by delivering immediate access to money.

“And credit unions, with their focus on personalized service, are well-positioned to capitalize on instant payments,” PYMNTS wrote. “By enabling members to access their money instantly, credit unions can offer a level of convenience that matches or exceeds that of larger financial institutions and FinTech firms.”

The post Nexi and Payac Team on Instant Credit Union Payments appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The collaboration, announced Tuesday (July 30), is designed to ease the process of third-party charge-off collections through Akuvo’s cloud-based collections platform to help maximize credit unions’ (CUs) recoveries from nonperforming loans.

“We are thrilled to incorporate Akuvo’s cloud-based capabilities into our comprehensive delinquency management suite through this partnership,” TriVerity Senior Vice President, Client Service and Marketing Wendy Elieff, said in a news release provided to PYMNTS. “This relationship will bolster TriVerity’s ability to efficiently recover charged-off accounts while providing credit unions with a single-source delinquency management solution that elevates the member experience.”

According to the release, Akuvo’s platform, which employs automation and analytics, will enhance TriVerity’s offerings by delivering “guidance and improved workflow through continuous connections with core processors, credit bureaus, payment providers, text messaging services, legal resources and more.”

In other recent credit union news, recent research by PYMNTS Intelligence and Velera shows that CUs that innovate in self-service banking are well poised to increase memberships among younger consumers.

“Data shows a correlation between how consumers most often access financial services and their interest in self-service banking convenience,” PYMNTS wrote earlier this month.

“While 18% of CU members who prefer using ATMs say self-service banking convenience is important when choosing to use a CU as their primary [financial institution], just 9.1% of CU members who prefer in-person banking say the same. CUs wanting to reduce churn and attract new members need to focus their innovation efforts on providing self-service banking,” PYMNTS added.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS also spoke recently with Brian Scott, chief growth officer at Velera, to discuss the state and prospects of embedded finance and payments innovation, as part of the series “What’s Next In Payments: July Halftime Report.”

Scott underlined a dichotomy between small and large financial institutions: Those below the $10 billion threshold, often referred to as Durbin-exempt, typically focus intensely on serving specific consumer segments or communities. They leverage their smaller scale to create deep, personalized relationships with their clients.

“We see a lot of opportunities for Durbin-exempt financial institutions to focus on certain aspects of a consumer need and focus on serving that really well,” Scott said. “They are entrenching themselves into a marketplace, into a community, into an employer group.”

By contrast, institutions above the $10 billion mark are focused on more broader market growth, face higher regulatory burdens and have their interchange fees capped, leading them to seek expansive growth strategies.

Scott stressed that embedded finance is shaping up to be a key offering for Durbin-exempt institutions to differentiate themselves and capture market share from bigger rivals.

The post TriVerity and Akuvo Team to Ease Collections for Credit Unions appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The collaboration, announced Monday (July 29), is designed to help Vantage improve its compliance and risk management as it expands its FinTech program and partnerships.

“Embedded banking is under intense scrutiny from regulators,” said Natasha Vernier, Cable’s chief executive. “Vantage Bank is incredibly smart to get ahead of that scrutiny by building a best-in-class compliance program right at the outset.”

According to the release, Cable’s platform will let Vantage automatically monitor 100% of accounts, thus eliminating manual testing and ensuring comprehensive control monitoring as their business scales, without adding staff, to keep on top of regulatory compliance and control over financial crime risks.

“Vantage believes there is tremendous opportunity to grow and diversify our customer base by leveraging embedded banking,” said Jeff Sinnott, president and CEO of Vantage Bank. “This opportunity requires that we have a robust risk management program and strong controls to ensure regulatory compliance. Vantage Bank believes Cable is the best platform to help manage our risk and compliance for our embedded banking program.”

As PYMNTS wrote last week, the rise of embedded finance has begun pushing banks to adapt or risk being outpaced by rivals from the Big Tech and FinTech sectors.

A recent PYMNTS Intelligence report, “Embedded Finance and BaaS: From Marketing Buzz to Banking Bedrock,” done in collaboration with NCR Voyix, shows that the integration of application programming interfaces (APIs) is transforming financial services by embedding them into daily digital interactions.

With 41% of financial institutions adopting embedded finance solutions and 48% enhancing their banking-as-a-service (BaaS) capabilities, banks are responding to digital demands and competitive pressures. Despite this progress, challenges such as outdated systems, regulatory hurdles, and security risks remain barriers.

“Despite the potential, only 79% of global banks foresee banking becoming deeply integrated into daily activities, indicating that many are still in the initial stages of adopting these technologies,” PYMNTS wrote. “Issues such as legacy systems, fragmented technological infrastructure, and evolving regulatory requirements can slow progress.”

The increasing adoption of these technologies, that report continued, reflects a wider shift in the industry toward more agile and integrated financial services, setting up banks to better compete with emerging digital and FinTech players.

The post Cable and Vantage Bank Team on Embedded Banking Compliance appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The social media platform is testing a new program to sell ads on Pinterest pages using an ad auction system, according to a report Monday (July 29) by Seeking Alpha, which itself cited a paywalled story by The Information.

From there, publishers would share ad revenue with Pinterest, said Jeremy Jankowski, the company’s publishing head for North America. According to the report, Pinterest aims to capitalize on the relationships publishers have with advertisers, while also giving publishers the chance to work with more advertisers on larger deals.

The report also noted that executives at TikTok have recently been in discussions with digital media companies about a deal to sell custom video content to advertisers.

Meanwhile, the report added, LinkedIn’s Wire Program, which lets outlets sell ads in front of the videos they distribute, recently moved into beta testing.

A LinkedIn spokesperson told The Information that while publishers share revenue with the company, they are solely responsible for the ad sales, though the company  is exploring a joint selling agreement.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month about these platforms’ attempts to drive revenue through in-person retail pop-ups.

For Pinterest, that meant its holiday season partnership with Anthropologie, where visitors could visit a home in Brooklyn outfitted with QR codes for shopping throughout, based on popular trends on the social media platform.

TikTok, for its part, has turned to in-person pop-ups to capture consumers’ retail purchases as well as their live event ticket spending, teaming up with cosmetics company Rare Beauty in April, and hosting a live music pop-up in London’s King’s Cross featuring emerging artists.

“Pop-ups provide an opportunity for brands to create immersive, multi-sensory experiences that digital platforms alone cannot offer,” PYMNTS wrote. “These experiences foster a deeper emotional connection with the brand, which can be crucial for building loyalty and driving sales.

“Additionally, the pop-ups are designed to be shareable on social media, creating a feedback loop that benefits both the platform and the participating brands,” that report added.

In all, social media apps are becoming more and more involved in retail, with younger generations disproportionately engaging with social commerce, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Monetizing Social Media.”

The post Pinterest Reportedly Turning to News Outlets to Sell Ads appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

“For over a decade, hundreds of thousands of food and beverage businesses have relied on Square to power their operations,” the companies said in a news release Thursday (July 25). “As the foodservice industry evolves and competitive pressures increase, this collaboration with US Foods will accelerate restaurants’ ability to adopt Square’s truly differentiated technology designed to help them grow and succeed.”

According to the release, US Foods already provides customers with access to tech solutions like the CHECK Business Tools program. Now, as a CHECK program provider, Square’s solutions for food and beverage businesses will be available to US Foods’ thousands of customers across the U.S.

This suite of tools aims to help modernize restaurant operations, drive traffic and simplify staffing, US Foods said on its website.

“Restaurant operators today are tasked with navigating numerous operational challenges, from labor management to growing sales and managing cash flow,” said Ming-Tai Huh, head of food and beverage at Square. “US Foods shares our commitment to empowering restaurants with the tools and services they need to drive operational efficiency and find success. We’re confident we can bring Square’s comprehensive, easy-to-use, and time-saving suite of solutions to more and more restaurants.”

Square has been rolling out a number of restaurant-related tools this year, and also recently released its Quarterly Restaurant Report, which found that average hourly earnings for restaurant workers have jumped by 66% since 2017 compared to 40% for retail workers.

“Bars and full-service restaurants rely more on higher-skilled employees who perform hard-to-automate tasks, which increases payroll costs,” Huh said in a news release at the time. “It’s the exact opposite situation for QSRs and cafes. These sellers can more easily use technology to automate and streamline operations, helping lower operating costs for front and back of house.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote earlier this week that the restaurant industry is facing “a pivotal opportunity with the rise of frictionless digital payments, responding to growing customer demand for convenience.”

But in spite of these advancements, adoption rates lag because of entrenched use of traditional payment methods and ongoing staffing challenges.

PYMNTS Intelligence’s new study, “Why More Restaurants Need to Bite Into Digital Transformation,” looks at how consumers are embracing technologies like digital wallets, mobile apps and QR codes because they meet the preferences of tech-savvy diners, while also enhancing operational efficiency and helping staff to elevate the overall dining experience.

“To stay competitive in this digital-first era, restaurants must integrate these modern payment solutions to ensure seamless dining experiences and avoid falling behind more innovative competitors,” PYMNTS wrote.

The post Square Teams With US Foods as Restaurants Face Digital Opportunities appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

Spendbase is expanding into the U.S. and chose Thredd to issue and process virtual cards for its subscription payments, the companies said in a Thursday (July 25) press release.

“We have selected Thredd as our issuer processor for the U.S. market because they demonstrated both a deep understanding of our ambitions as well as modern processing capabilities, and we are confident in their ability to meet our plans for a successful U.S. launch later this year,” Andrew Alex, CEO of Spendbase, said in the release.

With this collaboration, Spendbase’s U.S. customers will be able to use corporate virtual cards for their software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscriptions payments, according to the release.

This option will provide companies with more control and transparency over their expenses, as virtual card payments are secure, fast and traceable, the release said.

Spendbase is Thredd’s second U.S. client, per the release.

“This is our first net-new client to choose Thredd because we can connect them to the U.S.,” Kevin Fox, chief revenue officer at Thredd, said in the release. “Unlike other EU providers, we were able to offer Spendbase U.S.-compliant debit card processing in time for their anticipated Q3 launch date.”

Thredd aims to facilitate the international expansion of its clients, and the company is focusing its efforts on Latin America, Asia and now the U.S., Thredd CEO Jim McCarthy told PYMNTS in an interview posted in May.

The company views these regions as ripe for innovation and growth, using its platform to support clients’ global ambitions.

“Latin America is a great market that’s growing like crazy,” McCarthy said. “We want to be there. We’re doing really well in Asia, and we’re just landing in the U.S. and looking to expand.”

The global value of virtual card transactions is expected to grow from about $2 trillion to hit $6.8 trillion by 2026, according to the “B2B Digital Payments Tracker®,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and American Express collaboration.

The report found that this growth indicates users’ recognition of virtual cards’ simplicity and security compared to traditional payment methods like paper checks.

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The collaboration, announced Thursday (July 25), makes Marqeta the first U.S. processor to enable Visa Flexible Credential, a card offering that toggles between payment methods: debit, credit, cryptocurrency and pay-over-time options.

“Marqeta achieved certification with Visa Flexible Credential in May 2024, which will enable cardholders of Marqeta’s participating customers to easily set parameters or choose whether they use debit, credit, “pay-in-four” with Buy Now, Pay Later or even pay using rewards points,” the company said in a news release.

By giving consumers more payment choices, the company adds, Marqeta customers can “improve the consumer purchase experience and increase merchant acceptance.”

PYMNTS covered the Visa Flexible Credential rollout earlier this year, noting that even 10 years ago, the idea of one card that could access multiple forms of payment was “all about a battery-powered plastic card” with buttons representing various payment choices.

“For the consumer Flexible Credentials can work with any type of funding source the bank would offer you,” Mark Nelsen, senior vice president and global head of consumer payments at Visa, told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster.

“Buy now, pay later would be one. Pay with cryptocurrency and paying with points would be two others. Whatever that banking institution will allow, the consumer would then have the option to choose the type of transaction and how they want it to be funded.”

Meanwhile, recent research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that while 54% of acquirers — the financial institutions that process credit and debit card transactions for merchants — say they support card-linked installment options, the actual percentage is much lower.

Just 6% of acquirers surveyed truly offer installment plan payment options linked to credit cards before or during checkout, according to “Navigating New Norms: The Use of Card-Linked Installment Plans in Online and In-Store Sales,” created in collaboration with Splitit.

Only three out of the 50 acquirers surveyed offer pay later plans linked directly to credit cards, while 22% of acquirers surveyed cited third-party integration constraints as a barrier limiting their ability to offer credit card-linked installment options.

“The data on this variety in timing and type of pay later plan reveals a significant gap between perceived and actual capabilities, highlighting the need for enhanced direct integrations and more consistent installment offerings,” PYMNTS wrote.

In spite of these challenges, there’s still a lot of room for growth, as 60% of consumers show an interest in pay-later options at checkout.

The post Marqeta Teams With Visa to Offer Flexible Checkout Options appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

The partnership, announced Wednesday (July 24), lets Plenti’s customers make faster loan repayments via NAB’s pay-by-bank offering PayTo.

“Plenti is the first NAB business customer to integrate the new account-to-account payment solution in its online lending platform, allowing its customers to make real-time payments via PayTo to pay down their debt faster,” NAB said in a news release.

According to the release, PayTo provides Plenti customers and simpler, more secure experience by eliminating manual entry and giving them the ability to authorize and see payments immediately in their banking app.

Plenti Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Glenn Riddell said customers expect a simple yet superior end-to-end lending experience.

“We wanted to offer our customers a faster, smarter and more convenient way to make payments to their Plenti loans. PayTo ticked all these boxes,” Riddell said.

“Customers making extra loan payments will be the first to access Plenti’s instant PayTo option, and we look forward to working with NAB to make PayTo payments more widely available across our platform.”

The companies say the service can also help business by letting them improve cash flow, speed reconciliation and prevent fraud.

“The improved payment experience for consumers is also a key benefit for businesses enabling PayTo, which offers a faster, more secure and enhanced experience compared to other payment options such as direct debit,” said Shane Conway, who oversees transaction banking and enterprise payments for NAB.

PYMNTS explored the growth of pay-by-bank methods — or open banking payments — last month in an interview with Nate Marquiss, head of financial services at Trustly, and Johnson Cook, co-founder and president of Greenlight.

Among the advantages of open banking is its potential to revolutionize payment systems, offering an alternative to traditional card payments. These payments can be processed in real time, lowering the costs connected with card transactions and eliminating the risk of chargebacks, Marquiss said.

However, in spite its benefits, open banking remains relatively new to the U.S. market, with one recent survey showing that just 11% of U.S. adults had used open banking payments in the prior year, mostly due to a lack of familiarity and understanding of the system.

“But as awareness and understanding grow, the adoption of open banking is likely to increase, driven by the demand for seamless, instant financial services — particularly from younger generations,” PYMNTS wrote.

The post NAB and Plenti Team on Pay by Bank for Loan Repayments appeared first on PYMNTS.com.

In this collaboration, CredAble’s supply chain finance platform has been integrated with the Finastra Trade Innovation trade services platform, the companies said in a Tuesday (July 23) press release.

“By combining our AI-powered supply chain finance platform with Finastra’s leading trade finance solution and global reach, we are delivering a holistic, front-to-back trade and supply chain finance offering to more banks worldwide,” Satyam Agrawal, global head of product and retail business lending, MD ASEAN and ME at CredAble, said in the release.

CredAble’s working capital platform enables banks to provide a wide range of supply chain financing solutions, serve both enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), and unlock new revenue opportunities, according to the release.

The Finastra Trade Innovation platform helps banks grow and evolve to meet the demands of compliance, customers and the competitive environment by using straight-through processing, digitalization and data analytics, the release said.

Together, the companies will provide an enhanced, end-to-end offering for trade and supply chain finance to banks around the world, per the release.

“The partnership ensures institutions can continue to innovate at speed, decrease time to value and utilize data for decision making across the whole of their working capital and supply chain finance portfolio, ultimately supporting increased growth for both their business and that of their customers,” Anastasia McAlpine, head of product management for trade and supply chain finance at Finastra, said in the release.

In another collaboration, Finastra said in September 2023 that it launched a trade finance partnership with Microsoft. That collaboration combines the Finastra Trade Innovation platform with a “full microservices architecture” using Microsoft Azure, enabling financial institutions to meet the needs of their corporate customers.

Trade finance is evolving from simple, often singular, financial instruments to ecosystem-based offerings that cater to the complete customer journey and include trade loans, discounting loans and supply chain finance, as well as services like letters of credit, performance guarantees and documentary collections, PYMNTS reported in January.

This change is inspiring banks to innovate their offerings via the use of digitization, automation and the integration of emerging technologies that can enable faster decision-making and make global trade more efficient and transparent.

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