John Adams

Now that JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Capital One and others offer the alternative credit option, the startups that created this market are adding products to cement their hold on consumers and merchants.

The tech entrepreneur has been increasingly focused on Bitcoin, a key growth area for the payments company he co-founded.

The bank, which helped launch the real-time network for peer-to-peer payments, is trying to duplicate that success by helping corporate clients process certain transactions instantly with wholesale partners and, in some cases, retail customers.

Western central banks trying to develop sovereign cryptocurrency models face pushback from lawmakers and other obstacles, while the digital yuan has a much clearer path.

A growing number of companies like Klarna, Sezzle and Circle let consumers split large purchases into smaller transactions paid over time. But they say they need to offer more than one product to set themselves apart and build customer loyalty.

More than 97% of venture backing goes go white-owned startups. Firms like Mendoza Ventures, Chingona Ventures and MaC Venture Capital are stepping in to support underserved entrepreneurs.

The race to provide coronavirus relief for small businesses is opening new routes to fund payments, including underused credit lines.