Today In Payments: Flywire Could IPO In Late 2021 With A $3 Billion Valuation; Mastercard Debuts NextGen Contactless Technology

In today’s top news, Flywire could file for an IPO later this year that could value that company at $3 billion, and Mastercard debuted new quantum-resistant technology for contactless payments. Plus, the Federal Reserve released its list of over 110 organizations participating in its FedNow instant payments pilot program.

Flywire Said To IPO In Late 2021 With A $3 Billion Valuation

Payment processor Flywire Corp. has tapped investment banks to gear up for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2021 that could provide the firm with an approximately $3 billion valuation, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources. Flywire is working with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on the public offering, which could happen as soon as this summer.

Mastercard Debuts NextGen Contactless Technology

Mastercard has applied new quantum-resistant technologies in order to develop a new kind of contactless payment, the Enhanced Contactless (Ecos) technology. The Ecos specifications say that any device will be able to be used as a payment device, making it less necessary to carry backup cards or payment methods.

FedNow Shares Pilot Program Participants

The FedNow program — and its goal of instant payments — gets ever closer to reality. The Federal Reserve has said more than 110 organizations, including financial institutions and processors, are participating in the pilot program. Here are a few notable names on the list, and what comes next.

Grab Names Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan For Potential IPO Underwriting

Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing and delivery behemoth Grab chose Morgan Stanley and J.P. Morgan Chase to underwrite a possible $2 billion IPO that could happen during the second half of 2021.

Instant Payments Emerge As Key Factor For Winning Customer Loyalty

Being paid instantly is no longer a choice but a necessity for one-third of consumers and microbusinesses that also say they are unlikely to continue a relationship with a business that doesn’t offer it. In the latest edition of the Disbursements Satisfaction Playbook, PYMNTS surveyed 5,000 consumers and 1,000 businesses to examine the impact of instant disbursements on long-term customer loyalty.

TCH’s Waterhouse: Real-Time Payments’ 2021 Focus Is On Smarter, Safer

One of the goals of The Clearing House (TCH) in the new year is to make real-time payments safer and smarter, Russ Waterhouse, executive vice president of product development and strategy, told Karen Webster. Request to Pay, debit and payroll use cases are high on the agenda.

From Community Hubs To In-Store Theater, Retailers Double Down In Digital At NRF

The National Retail Federation’s annual convention may have come and gone but the sentiments, strategies and lessons learned from facing nearly a year of pandemic-led changes by some of the world’s largest merchants are going nowhere fast — especially when it comes to their embrace of increased digitalization.