Today In Payments: Crypto Tops $1 Trillion

In today’s top news, the cryptocurrency market topped $1 trillion after bitcoin set new record highs above $37,000, and UnitedHealth’s Optum bought Change Healthcare. Plus, Americans are reporting not receiving their promised stimulus checks.

Crypto Market Tops $1 Trillion As Bitcoin Smashes Records

Bitcoin hit more than $37,700 early Thursday morning (Jan. 7), a new record high that helped drive the cryptocurrency market beyond $1 trillion.

UnitedHealth’s Optum Buys Change Healthcare For $13 Billion

After being bought by UnitedHealth, Change Healthcare will join with OptumInsight to boost software and data analytics, tech-fueled research and revenue cycle management offerings for healthcare. The deal is estimated to be worth about $13 billion.

Stimulus Checks Pose Issues For H&R Block, TurboTax

Some Americans expecting a second stimulus check deposited into their accounts have reportedly not received payment as anticipated. People who filed their 2019 taxes with H&R Block or TurboTax told CNBC that they have not seen a deposit as expected.

Green Dot Introduces GO2bank To Help Cash-Strapped Consumers

California FinTech Green Dot is rolling out the mobile bank GO2bank to assist people who are living paycheck to paycheck. The bank features as much as $200 overdraft protection, high-value rewards, high-interest savings and opportunities to establish, build and track credit, regardless of credit history.

Key Checkout Features Separate Best From The Rest in eCommerce

Some good news: Retailers of all stripes offer a better online and mobile checkout experiences. The problem? There’s still a big gap between the best and the rest. In the Checkout Conversion Index: Q4 2020 Edition, PYMNTS examines over 70 key indicators provided by more than 650 online merchants about their checkout experience to understand what separates the best from the rest.

Integrated Workflows Fuel Cross-Border B2B Payments

With only 3 percent of all cross-border B2B payments digitized, corporates and their banks have a long way to go before these transactions are fully optimized. Progress will depend on viewing business payments as a broader integrated workflow. In a PYMNTS TV segment, TransferMate CEO Sinead Fitzmaurice, Coupa Executive Vice President Ravi Thakur and Wells Fargo Head of Global Product Management Judd Holroyde tell Karen Webster about the ecosystems forming to fuel smarter, data-driven global payments.

Trump Executive Order On WeChat, Alipay And Others Catch Consumers In The Middle

The Trump administration is on its way out; the Biden administration is on its way in. An executive order by the outgoing president seeks to ban U.S. transactions using Alipay and Tencent’s payment apps. Will the consumer be increasingly in focus as tensions between China and the U.S. flare up?