Today in Payments: FIS Launches RealNet To Boost Real Time A2A Payments; Apple’s Subscriptions Surge By 40M

In today’s top news, FIS launched a real-time, account-to-account (A2A) payments platform, and Apple reported subscriptions and services were up in the first quarter of 2021. Plus, in its Q1 earnings report, Facebook highlighted the moves by its various brands into eCommerce over the past year.

FIS’ RealNet Aims To Speed Up RTP Adoption In US (And Beyond)

Real-time payments are gaining traction around the globe and across a variety of use cases. FIS is unveiling its own real-time payments platform, RealNet, to speed up A2A activity.

Apple’s Subscriptions Surge By 40M As Services Revenues Grow 27 Pct

Apple posted strong results Wednesday (April 28) for its fiscal second quarter that showed continued demand for its hardware — boosted by pivots toward working from home and schooling from home amid the pandemic — and demand for its service and subscription offerings.

Facebook Marketplace Boasts 1B Active Users In Q1; Instagram, WhatsApp Expand eCommerce

Facebook managed to come out ahead of analyst predictions for both earnings and revenue performance when it reported its first-quarter results for 2021 Wednesday. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also spent some time on the investor call lauding Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp efforts building out their eCommerce footprints over the last year.

Businesses Can Now Accept ACH Payments Via Square Invoices

Companies now have the ability to use Square Invoices to take automated clearing house (ACH) payments. The FinTech said that ACH payment acceptance is an additional way that it is satisfying the needs of enterprises, particularly companies that sell big-ticket items

Unattended Retail Seeks Solution To Fragmented Loyalty Efforts

Unattended retail solutions are perfect for contactless and on-the-go purchases, yet they lack the consumer engagement that other retail outlets enjoy. In the Digitizing Unattended Retail Payments Report, Crane Payment Innovations’ Douglas Haddon explains how a single loyalty program across all unattended retail operators could help drive engagement and greater uptake.

Connected Economy 2021: Using Data To Accelerate Automotive’s Connected Future

The connected consumer is now front and center of the auto business. As Vroom CEO Paul Hennessy told Karen Webster, the online purchase of a car is the starting point for creating a consumer-centric connected ecosystem focused on buying, selling, servicing and using the car.

PayPal And Coinbase Move Toward Bridging The Great Crypto ‘Divide’

PayPal is working with Coinbase to broaden the embrace of crypto, making it possible to buy crypto using a PayPal account. Boosting payment options may increase consumers’ comfort with making the plunge and buying bitcoin, among other cryptos.

Read More On Payments:

Tether Investment Values Whop at $1.6 Billion as Stablecoins Go Mainstream

Stripe Valuation Approaches $140 Billion

Billing Shifts From Back-Office Chore to Customer Loyalty Test

Spotify to Use Checkout.com’s Global Acquiring Services