Last week, today June 14: News in payments and fintech

Our bi-weekly news roundup collects some of the headlines in payments and fintech to watch, giving leaders across industries (or fintech enthusiasts) a quick glance at some of the news in the space. In Flywire’s 10+ years in delivering the most complex, high value payments, we’ve had a unique opportunity to work with many different organizations in the fintech and payments ecosystem. We’ve seen changes in how clients get paid, how their customers want to pay and how central the payments experience has become – not just across the industries we focus on, but every industry.

Here are some of the payments and fintech headlines from June 2- June 14.

Headlines

Apple Goes Deeper Into Finance With Buy Now, Pay Later Offering- Wall Street Journal
Apple plans to launch Apple Pay Later, a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service starting later this year which will allow consumers to spend as much as $1,000 and split the cost across four payments over six weeks. In a deeper foray into financial services, a wholly-owned Apple subsidiary will make decisions on the loans and underwrite them.

Fed’s Williams: “Critical” central banks understand impact of digital money- Reuters
The President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is watching digital currency and payments technologies for their impact on the Fed’s monetary policy and balance sheet, he told a research conference gathered at Columbia.

Some medical debt will soon disappear from consumer credit reports- CNBC
Major changes to the way medical debt appears on credit reports will take effect July 1. Announced in March by the three large credit reporting firms – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – the firms will stop including medical debt that went into collections after it’s paid off, instead of remaining on the record for seven years as is now the case.

COVID-19 Pandemic Did Not Impact Medical Debt Among Americans- RevcycleIntelligence
Continuing on the topic of medical debt, recent research published in JAMA Forum showed that COVID didn’t impact medical debt, with the analysis suggesting that any increases were offset by the decline in elective medical procedures and new healthcare policies implemented during the pandemic.

Subscription Travel Bring Recurring Summer Fun to the Road and Skies - PYMNTS
Could a subscription to luxury travel be the next big trend in the subscription economy? PYMNTs calls attention to the travel subscription trends that will impact summer travel.

Why has the Fractional CFO Boomed in Popularity? - Global Banking & Finance Review
Fractional CFOs – or CFOs who work for organizations on a part-time or contract basis– help startups establish strong financial processes, get ready for funding rounds, and more.

Credit conditions expected to weaken this year: Bank economists - American Banker
An ABA report found major deterioration in the outlook for business credit, as companies continue facing high inflation, supply-chain disruptions and challenges in finding workers. (subscription required)

NEW REPORT: Why Two-Thirds of US Businesses Resist Real-Time Payments Adoption - PYMNTS.com
Real-time payments have become a key tool that US businesses have at their disposal to keep their B2B operations running smoothly. Nevertheless, US and Canadian firms are hesitant.

From Flywire

Total economic impact study reveals Flywire healthcare clients can achieve 269% ROI
A new Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study that Flywire commissioned from Forrester Consulting revealed the return on investment (ROI) of Flywire for hospitals and health systems would be 269% over three years.

B2B payments takeaways from the CFO Leadership Conference
Last month’s CFO Leadership Conference in Boston featured several themes one may expect to surface at a senior level finance event – topics such as the urgency of factoring in inflation to budgets and forecasts, the importance of being approachable and communicating well, and how to prioritize IT projects aimed at data analysis and automation.

Case study: Le Cordon Bleu Peru
With its global brand recognition and international curriculum, Le Cordon Bleu Peru attracts both local and international students. This created challenges in managing payments from assorted countries in different currencies.

The Flywire Charitable Foundation Announces Third Annual Scholarship Program
Flywire launched its third annual scholarship program, which will recognize students who excel in the academic disciplines of social justice, global health, global citizenship as well as the new category of environmental sustainability.


Stat of the week

87% - of the 400 middle-market financial and technology leaders surveyed by Capital One who said technology roadmaps are a critical part of employee retention - How Technology is Fueling Growth in the Middle Market

Report of the week

PWC Pulse Survey: Executive views on business in 2022
Specifically, CFOs plan to “use automation to streamline transactional processes and enable strategic, actionable insights, freeing up employee time for more challenging business issues.”

Conversation starter

U.S. drops Covid testing requirement for international travelers
Good news for summer vacation, COVID-19 testing requirements for inbound travelers from abroad ended Sunday – marking the end of one of the longest running travel restrictions of the pandemic.