Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

Consumers accustomed to the PayPal and Venmo digital wallets from PayPal Holdings Inc. can now deploy them to make federal tax payments when using the ACI Payments Inc. service. Announced Tuesday by parent company ACI Worldwide Inc., the service adds another digital tax payment option. And ACI Payments, which ACI …

Having posted strong revenue growth in 2021, Payoneer Global Inc., a provider of online money transfer, digital payment services, and working capital to businesses, sees significant growth opportunities in such markets as Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.  “These are regions that are in the early stages of …

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. will raise interchange rates for online merchants starting next month, while also lowering the rates for some small-merchant categories, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Mastercard’s fee changes alone will result in a net increase of about $330 million yearly, according to the Journal story, …

As Russian armed forces continue their assault on Ukraine, Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and American Express Co. late Saturday said they are suspending all operations in Russia, following up on actions taken by the networks nearly a week earlier. Meanwhile, reports began to filter out of Russia that at least some …

Block Inc., parent company of Square Inc., has become the latest payments provider to come under the scrutiny of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB, as well as attorneys general from multiple states, have requested information from Block related to how the company handles complaints and disputes from customers …

The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC said transaction volume on EPN, its automated clearing house network, increased 9.6% in 2021. The Clearing House and the Federal Reserve, the only ACH operators in the United States, each handle approximately half the commercial ACH market, TCH said.Buy now, pay later provider Sezzle Inc. said Yapstone …

With card issuers making it easier to dispute a transaction in the two years since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, observers say it has become harder for them to distinguish good customers from bad customers, especially when a transaction is disputed post-purchase. The latter case is when friendly fraud can occur, …

Buy now, pay later has been around for years, but since the onset of the Covid pandemic it has soared in popularity, attracting heavyweight payments companies, opening new payment avenues for consumers, and drawing the attention of federal regulators. Late Thursday, Splitit Payments Ltd. was the latest practitioner to report …

Visa Inc. will decrease interchange rates by 10% for small businesses accepting consumer credit cards in April, according to a Reuters report. The reduced rates will apply to online and card-present transactions and only to merchants with $250,000 or less in Visa consumer credit volumes, Reuters attributed its information to an …

Despite the economy reopening after the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, e-commerce continues to boom as consumers embrace shopping online from home or via their mobile device.  A recent study from FIS Inc. reveals that e-commerce transaction values in the United States grew 10% in 2021 compared to 2020, …

The actions taken by the SWIFT payments-messaging network and by Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine will have an impact, but a muted one, observers say.  The 49-year-old SWIFT system, which on Saturday said it is banning Russian banks, has not barred all …

Cross-border payments specialist Flywire Corp. reported its payment volume rose 75% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, to $3.1 billion. Volume for 2021 totaled $13.2 billion, up 76% from 2020.Walmart Inc. announced customers can send remittances from any of its U.S. stores to any of its stores in Mexico for a fee as low …

Ownit Commerce Inc. is betting the release of its new Connected Checkout service will give direct-to-consumer brands the ability to improve conversion rates by embedding Connected Checkout links anywhere they place URLs. The links enable one-tap purchase of any product. The effort is aimed at combatting shopping-cart abandonment as e-commerce …

Paysafe Ltd. early Wednesday reported progress in turning around its beleaguered digital-wallet business, noting a crucial deal with the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and progress in its key iGaming market. As part of an effort to reinvigorate its wallets, “We’re starting to work with crypto exchanges” more actively, Philip McHugh, …

Volante Technologies Inc., a cloud payments and financial messaging provider, said it will offer U.S. financial institutions a unified real-time payments service that offers access to The Clearing House’s RTP network and the upcoming FedNow service, which is expected to launch in 2023. Volante has been in the FedNow pilot program since 2021.Facepay …

Marking its first full year as a public company, Paya Holdings Inc. cited organic growth, increasing ACH volume, partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions as key growth drivers. Atlanta-based Paya reported payment volume of $11.7 billion for the fourth quarter, up from $9.2 billion from the same period in 2020, a …

Shift4 Payments Inc. early Tuesday said it has concluded agreements to acquire international e-commerce acquirer Finaro and cryptocurrency-based donation platform Giving Block in deals valued at $875 million in cash and stock, including future earnout provisions. The latter deal has already closed, while Allentown, Pa.-based Shift4 expects to close the …

Delivery platform DoorDash Inc. said it has agreed to acquire Bbot, a provider of online and in-store ordering and payments technology for restaurants. Terms were not announced.A survey from PCI Pal of 1,100 Canadian consumers found that 85% said trust in an organization’s ability protect personal data and secure payment processes is of the …

Australian fintech Zip Co Ltd. is poised to expand its buy now, pay later services through a definitive agreement to acquire Sezzle Inc. in an all-stock deal that values Sezzle at $355.5 million, or 491 million in Australian dollars (AUS). The deal is expected to significantly expand Zip’s presence in the …

The Sweden-based buy now, pay later provider Klarna AB on Friday announced a major move in its increasingly crucial U.S. market with the news that it will provide its payment service to Brookfield Properties, a real-estate developer with more than 150 shopping centers. The agreement, which makes Klarna the exclusive …