Mastercard

The acquisition will vastly expand Visa's platform, giving it nearly Amazon-like influence.

Though many merchants remain wary of alienating their customers with fees, others now see an opportunity to recoup the growing costs associated with accepting plastic.

BMO Harris Bank in Chicago recently became the first financial institution to offer a Mastercard that allows transgender and nonbinary people to use their preferred names. Members of that community often experience disproportionate financial hardship, in part because of employment discrimination.

The financial services industry has struggled with how best to explain privacy and data-sharing practices to customers. Mastercard is offering a new framework.

Mastercard is aggressively building a business payments ecosystem as it keeps an eye on political headwinds it has little control over.