Top News In Payments: Stripe To Power Digital, In-Store Payments For Lightspeed; Fed Weighs Cost And Benefits Of Digital Currency

In today’s top payments news, Stripe and Lightspeed team up to advance in-store and online payments for retailers and restaurants, the Federal Reserve weighs the costs and benefits of a digital currency and the Reserve Bank of Australia considers stopping banks from automatically routing “tap and go” payments through Visa and Mastercard.

Stripe Powers Digital, In-Store Payments For Lightspeed Retail, Restaurant Customers

Lightspeed and Stripe are teaming up to advance in-store and online payments for retailers and restaurants. Lightspeed customers will be able to process in-store payments and personalize readers with their own branding using Stripe Connect.

Fed Weighs Costs And Benefits Of Issuing Digital Currency

Speaking at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business on Wednesday, Feb. 5, Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard discussed the Fed’s process of evaluating the possibilities, issues and benefits of adopting cryptocurrencies and digital payments.

Australia’s Central Bank Calls For Switch From Visa, Mastercard To Cheaper EFTPOS

The Reserve Bank of Australia is considering stopping banks from automatically routing “tap and go” card payments through Visa and Mastercard, a process which costs twice as much as using EFTPOS, a processing system run by local financial institutions.

Airwallex, Visa Team For Borderless B2B Card

FinTech unicorn Airwallex and Visa are partnering to introduce a borderless card for businesses, which is debuting in Australia. With the Airwallex Borderless Card, customers will be able to pay suppliers in seconds with secure, cross-border payments.

After Subscription Stumbles, How Patreon Won Back Customer Trust

After stumbling in its first attempt to revamp its offerings, Patreon found a subscription model that works for its customers and led to an increase of 4 million subscribers. In the latest Subscription Commerce Tracker, Wyatt Jenkins, SVP of product at Patreon, discusses how enabling access to plan options and transparent tier pricing helped the platform win trust with new and old customers.

Taking China’s eCommerce Lessons On The Road

More and more digital commerce players in Asia are expanding to a global scale. PingPong Co-Founder Ning Ye spoke with Karen Webster about making the global commerce markets more accessible and transactions more seamless.

Capitol Hill Hearing Examines ‘Rent-A-Bank’ Schemes To Sidestep Interest Rate Caps

At a House Financial Services Committee hearing, representatives from consumer groups said “rent-a-bank” schemes harm consumers through predatory lending with high interest rates.