Visa abandoned its $5.3 billion planned acquisition of Plaid, an important competitor in the financial-technology space, in the face of a Justice Department antitrust lawsuit.
Updated Jan. 11, 2021 4:49 pm ET
SYDNEY Interest charges have been one of the defining features of credit cards for decades and so when an employee at a big Australian bank suggested getting rid of them, he was taking a risk.
“He said, ‘Well, what about a no-interest credit card?’ ” said Rachel Slade, personal banking group executive at National Australia Bank Ltd. , recalling a feedback session at one of the lender’s Melbourne offices. “And everyone’s like, ‘What? That’s not how a credit card works.’ ”
Worried about dwindling credit-card usage during the coronavirus pandemic and the rapid rise of startups like Australia’s Afterpay Ltd. and Sweden’s Klarna Bank AB that allow consumers to pay for goods in installments, some banks are rethinking what has been one of their most lucrative businesses.