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 Aug. 25 through Sept. 8.
Headlines
Google will allow alternative payment systems for Play Store in more countries - TechCrunch
Following its similar plans announced in July for the European Economic Area, Google will allow developers of non-gaming apps in India, Australia, Indonesia and Japan to use third-party payment systems. July’s announcement was aimed at compliance with new EU regulations requiring payment platform choice.
Poll - All roads lead to strong U.S. dollar: FX strategists - Reuters
Foreign exchange strategists agree that the dollar will remain strong through the year’s end, in large part due to monetary policy by the Federal Reserve.
SMBs — and Their FIs — Share Cross-Border Payments Pain - PYMNTS.com
Treasury and wholesale banking executives polled by PYMNTS rate the digital payments solutions they offer small businesses and middle-market companies as less effective than the ones they offer large enterprises.
Affirm Consumer Spend Report Reveals Top 2022 Summer Spending Trends - BusinessWire
Comparing year-over-year consumer spend data, Affirm proclaimed 2022 as “The Summer of Travel.” The “pay-over-time” company said travel was the second largest category of spending, with the amount spent on flights 5 times greater than last summer and amount spent on hotels more than twice as much.
How consumer finance products are finding B2B users - American Banker
John Adams looks at fintechs that are bridging cash flow issues for small businesses – more evidence of consumer-like technologies moving into the business environment.
From Flywire
Healthcare CIO and CFO collaboration: 5 things to discuss about revenue cycle management technologies
In our work with leading healthcare organizations, we see CFOs and finance leaders partnering with their CIOs on decisions about optimizing the many processes around revenue cycle management. Their collaboration typically focuses on five core areas, which we’ll review at a high level.
Why Cross-Border Payments Still Have Not Been Solved - Vixio.com
Flywire’s Mohit Kansal, Vice President of Global Payments, weighs in alongside other payments industry leaders on what it takes to manage and process cross-border transactions.
Politics is Standing in The Way Of Cross-Border Innovation - Vixio.com
Flywire’s Kansal talks about how fintechs have pushed innovation in cross-border payments and driven down costs, and how the partnerships being forged with traditional financial institutions are good news for everyone.
Stat of the week
$7,500 - The patient balance amount above which collection rates begin to decline and bad debt increases. When bills go above $7,501, patient collection rates hover at 17%, according to a report from Crowe Revenue Cycle Analytics.
Report of the week
U.S. businesses expect to spend more on tech to improve productivity - TechRepublic
Amex’s latest Global Business Spend Indicator has the majority (79%) of respondents prioritizing access to working capital and managing cash flow to help offset the impacts of inflation on their businesses. Almost half of those that have automated payments processes reported improved cash flow management and that they were receiving payments faster.
Conversation starter
Labor Day Is the First Holiday to Top Prepandemic Travel Levels - The Wall Street Journal
Travel volume surpassed pre-pandemic levels over Labor Day weekend, with 8.76 million travelers moving through TSA checkpoints between Friday, Sept. 2 and Monday, Sept. 5, compared with 8.62 million passengers over the long holiday weekend in 2019.