In today’s top news, China’s digital yuan trials have been expanded to Alipay users, and the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how several FinTechs, such as Kabbage, distributed PPP loans. Plus, Amazon has teamed up with Tile and Level to compete with Apple’s AirTags.
China’s Ant Group Expands MYbank Digital Yuan Trial
Ant Group and China’s state-owned online bank MYbank are expanding the trial of the digital yuan to Alipay users. This widens the pilot greatly, as the previous trials done with six state-owned institutions didn’t use third-party payment apps. Alibaba’s Ant Group is the official partner of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) for its digital yuan and has a 30 percent stake in the country’s MYbank.
Report: Kabbage, FinTechs Under DOJ Scrutiny Over PPP Loans
The U.S. Department of Justice is conducting a civil probe into whether some FinTechs, such as Kabbage, that are distributing federal Payroll Protection Program relief botched loan sizes. The newly reported investigation has centered on whether lenders accurately included payroll taxes in determining the size of companies’ payrolls, and therefore the amount they were eligible to borrow.
Amazon, Tile Team Up To Compete With Apple AirTags
Amazon has teamed with Tile, which makes trackers for lost items, and the smart lock maker Level in hopes of enhancing its connected devices to compete with products such as Apple AirTags.
JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon Urges Cryptocurrency Governance
Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase, said he believes that it’s time for cryptocurrency oversight, and told the Investment Company Institute (ICI) that a managerial framework should be instituted.
NEW DATA: Pandemic-Related Health Concerns Shape Consumers’ Food Ordering Habits
Twenty-four million consumers have shifted to ordering food online for health-related reasons – and 32 million more who don’t share those concerns are also ordering more online. In the May edition of Delivering on Restaurant Rewards, PYMNTS surveyed a national sample of 2,205 consumers to examine how the convenience of online ordering is changing ordering preferences, even as on-site dining picks up.
Airbnb: Trusted Payments Are The Connected Economy’s Backbone
Consumers have rewired the connective tissue of their lives, and as Airbnb has observed, they now regard living, working and having fun as all one ecosystem. Airbnb’s Global Head of Payments Sam Shrauger told Karen Webster that payments is a critical cornerstone for the connections Airbnb enables between the guest and the host – because “payments is trust.”
Flywire’s SEC Filing Highlights $11.7T Payments Modernization Opportunity
It’s early days yet in the digital transformation of global payments. Flywire’s newly filed S-1 reveals trillions of dollars of greenfield payments opportunity, with the bulk of that in B2B. Here’s why checks and paper invoices are destined to fade into the rearview mirror, fueled by simplified AR processes.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More