Apple will let buyers pay merchants by holding phones together

Apple has announced plans to introduce a contactless payment option later this year that will allow businesses to use iPhones to process transactions in stores without any additional hardware, competing with services like Square. The new “Tap to Pay” feature will allow US merchants of all sizes to accept payments simply by holding their iPhone near the customer’s iPhone or Apple Watch. It also works with contactless credit and debit cards. The feature, which will be included in an upcoming iOS beta update and will only be available on iPhone XS models and later, could help Apple deepen its relationship with retailers. Payment data will be protected by the same technology used in Apple Pay, with all transactions encrypted. [CNN]

AmEx will offer a debit card that will accumulate rewards points

American Express has launched a checking account and debit card that will allow its customers to earn its popular Membership Rewards points the same way they do on its credit and charge cards. It’s a notable move for AmEx since only a handful of smaller banks and credit unions offer cash back or rewards for debit card purchases. The AmEx current account will come with a debit card and an annual interest rate of 0.5%. The debit card will give account holders one membership reward point for every $2 they spend on purchases. These points can be bundled with Membership Reward points that the cardholder might already earn on a credit card. [Associated Press]

Consumers take on more credit card debt as interest rates set to rise

Household credit card debt saw its largest quarterly increase in at least 22 years. Despite the $52 billion rise in credit card debt, the biggest since the Fed started tracking the data, the $860 billion balance is still $67 billion lower than when it started. of the pandemic, and the share of credit card holders in delinquencies has decreased. The last quarter of the year is also when people typically splurge on holiday spending, so some of the increase is expected. Nonetheless, after an initial dip at the start of the pandemic, credit card debt has steadily increased to the all-time high of $927 billion set in 2019, reflecting a broader trend not entirely explained by holiday shopping. [CNBC]

Chase United credit cards offer 5x more miles for select charitable donations in honor of Black History Month

There is a rare opportunity to earn bonus United miles by making qualifying donations with a United credit card. In honor of Black History Month, Chase, United Airlines and Visa are offering cardholders 5x miles when they donate to select nonprofits that provide access to educational opportunities for students blacks and support civil rights policies. [Business Insider]

Messenger’s split payments feature is rolling out to all US users

Splitting a restaurant bill or splitting the costs of a group trip can be tedious. Meta is trying to facilitate this by rolling out its split payments feature to all Facebook Messenger users. The feature, which was previously in testing, will likely be perfect for occasions when you’re splitting the cost of something with two or more people. [Tech Crunch]

Credit card spending looks healthy

According to a new survey, 60% of respondents would rather use an BNPL option with existing credit cards than open new lines of credit. Additionally, 64% of respondents expect their credit card spending to be the same or higher than it was in 2021. The survey found that most respondents (56%) would rather make monthly payments than all of them. every two weeks (25%). The larger the purchase amount, the higher the number, with 70% preferring monthly payments for purchases of $500 or more. The results also indicate that consumers clearly prefer options in terms of number of installments. While 60% of respondents accept four payments or less for purchases under $300, 66% prefer more than four payments for a purchase of $500, and 75% want more than four payments for purchases of $1,000 or more. more. [Chain Store Age]

Restaurant gift card sales up in 2021, still down in 2019

Restaurant gift card sales were up 22% in 2021 from 2020, but still down 13% from 2019, according to a new report. Sales in the family restaurant category jumped 106% from 2020, while fine dining jumped 57%, demonstrating pent-up demand for a return to dine-in. While the total number of gift cards sold in 2021 has increased year over year, other trends, such as card spend, have remained relatively constant compared to previous years. Sales of digital cards in 2021 were the highest for the years included in the report. Sales were driven by the purchase of e-gift cards, particularly for gourmet restaurants. [Fast Casual]

Gen Z consumers love their debit cards right now

While debit cards may be Gen Z’s preferred in-person payment method, don’t expect this trend to last. A recent report from eMarketer reveals that these digital natives expect to reduce the use of plastic cards in the future. Covid-19 has forced many shoppers to switch to digital contactless payments, and Gen Z, who have never known a life without the internet, have had no trouble adapting. Nearly three-quarters of them plan to use contactless payment methods even after the pandemic is over. Gen Z shoppers plan to reduce their card usage in the future: 35% to 26% for debit cards and 16% to 14% for credit cards. The number of consumers using P2P mobile apps will more than double over the next three years, accounting for 61% of Gen Z mobile phone users. [PYMNTS]

Best New Apps for Tracking Credit Card Rewards

If you have more than one credit card, keeping track of all your card rewards, annual fees, offers, and earnings can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, there are several new apps emerging to help you manage your cards. Here are five apps for tracking credit card rewards: UThrive, Travel Freely, MaxRewards, CardPointers, and Card Curator. [Miles Talk]

Bank of America: Credit card spending in 2021 up 24% from pre-pandemic levels

Bank of America said credit and debit card spending in January hit $65 billion for the month, up 16%. Travel spending was up nearly 120% year over year, with retail and food spending also seeing growth. Overall credit card spending increased by 28%. Spending by low-income consumers (annual income below $50,000) increased by 7%, and spending by high-income consumers (annual income above $100,000) increased by 23%. The company said this indicates the economy is in good shape for 2022. [ZD Net]

Mastercard Launches Cybersecurity Group Focused on Third-Party Risks

US financial institutions are increasingly dependent on external service providers for virtually every element of their operations, from CVC maintenance to payment processing. But as effective and profitable as this practice may be, it exposes banks, credit unions, investment firms and others to more potential incursions than they would otherwise encounter directly. Mastercard hopes to help mitigate this risk. The company announced the launch of its own “Global Cybersecurity Alliance” to help financial firms and their suppliers reduce the ever-increasing threats they face in this vast web of interconnected dependencies. According to Mastercard, three out of five cyberattacks (60%) come from external providers. [SC Magazine]

Los Angeles County asks credit card companies to help track ghost gun sales

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced this week that he is calling on American Express, Mastercard and Visa to “show responsible corporate citizenship” and stop online payments for the purchase of ghost weapon kits. The DA’s office described ghost guns as gun kits sold primarily over the internet that give buyers the tools needed to assemble a working gun. They’re called ghost guns because they’re unregistered and don’t have a serial number, making them untraceable by law enforcement. They range from $300 to $500 per kit. Ghost guns also do not require buyers to complete a background check, often requiring the buyer to certify themselves that it is not legally prohibited to purchase a firearm. [The Hill]

Plaid must pay users of Venmo, Credit Karma and other apps $58 million

You may be eligible for a payment from Plaid if you use financial apps such as Venmo, Credit Karma, or Robinhood. Plaid, a fintech company, has settled a class action lawsuit and agreed to pay $58 million to all consumers with a bank account linked to one of its approximately 5,000 client apps between January 1, 2013 and January 19 November 2021. The lawsuit accused Plaid of collecting “more financial data than necessary from users.” Plaid connects consumer bank accounts to financial apps. The lawsuit also claimed that the company obtained users’ bank login information through Plaid Link, “which had the look and feel of the user’s bank account login screen.” [WDBJ]