Top News In Payments: Mastercard Grows Track Platform; Affirm Aims For $1.5B In Funding

Today in the payments news roundup, Mastercard is modernizing its business-to-business (B2B) payment ecosystem. Also, Affirm is reportedly seeking to raise around $1.5 billion in funding. And the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is working on defining how U.S. antitrust laws apply to Big Tech.

Mastercard Track Expands Focus To Faster B2B Payments, Data Collection

Mastercard debuted plans to modernize its B2B payment ecosystem with Mastercard Track. The Mastercard Track Business Payment Service is said to be the first global open-loop commercial service created to automate payments between the world’s buyers and suppliers.

Affirm Looks To Raise $1.5B On $3B Valuation

Affirm is reportedly seeking to raise around $1.5 billion in a combination of debt as well as equity. The FinTech has notched $1.03 billion so far from firms such as Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners and others.

WeWork Picks Nasdaq, Mulls Governance Changes To Save IPO

The parent company of WeWork is planning to list its shares on Nasdaq as it mulls leadership changes to stimulate investor interest ahead of its initial public offering (IPO). While the offering has been eagerly anticipated, questions and concerns over losses have cooled investor interest.

FTC Defining Its Authority To Govern Big Tech

The FTC is working on defining how U.S. antitrust laws apply to Big Tech so it can better police behavior that is anti-competitive. The commission seeks to uncover any limitations or regulatory gaps in the law that might hamper its ability to govern tech companies.

Report: Trade Credit’s Burden Hits 50 Pct Of US SMBs

Trade credit is especially difficult for early-stage companies as well as businesses with low operating profit margins. Even so, trade credit also creates risk for more high-margin and established operations that tend to be more generous as well as active in extending trade credit.

Factors Driving Consumer Demand For Banking App Controls

Approximately two thirds — or  66.6 percent — of consumers say having more authentication controls would make them feel more secure, and 38.3 percent say the added security is worth the extra time it takes for the authentication of transactions. In addition, many consumers also believe having more control over authentication would improve their ease of use.