Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

Amazon.com Inc.’s decision to pull back from its threat to stop accepting Visa cards issued in the United Kingdom may have evoked a sigh of relief among some consumers, not to mention at Visa itself, but it also could betoken some complex dynamics behind the decision-making at both corporate giants. …

Mastercard Inc. said it is enabling Mastercard-branded cards to be used for purchases on Coinbase’s upcoming NFT marketplace. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital goods.Accounting-automation company Bookkeep announced integrations with Stripe, Sage Intacct, and NetSuite. The company, which serves more than 600 retailers and restaurants, also offers links to Shopify, Square, Amazon, and …

Stripe Inc. announced Monday a five-year deal with Ford Credit, Ford Motor Company’s financial-services arm, to develop new e-commerce applications for Ford customers and dealers in North America and Europe. The agreement also includes processing payments for the automaker’s dealer network and providing Ford dealers with an improved payment-acceptance platform.  …

Open banking, single-click checkout wallets, and the hot buy now, pay later trend will all help drive e-commerce volume worldwide in the coming five years, predicts Juniper Research in a report released Monday. This momentum is likely to push online sales long after the short-term impetus from the pandemic subsides, …

Software firm UST said it has worked with Kiosk Information Systems to introduce a touchless checkout platform that offers both voice and gesture-based interaction as well as a variety of payment flows, including QR codes, app wallets, contactless cards, and cash.Point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico, a unit of Worldline, launched its Self-Modular POS, a …

As part of its effort to help users of its Phixius payment-data network mitigate fraud and enhance payment-routing certainty, Nacha announced Thursday the network will enable originators, fintechs, and financial institutions that originate and receive electronic payments to verify payment-related information, such as account ownership, account numbers, and routing information. …

Peer-to-peer money transfers have become a hyper-competitive market, driving even the best-known providers to seek out an edge. One such idea is to introduce a feature that lets senders add virtual gift-wrapping to payments they’re sending for special occasions, and on Thursday Venmo started rolling out just such a feature. …

Payroc WorldAccess LLC said it acquired East Commerce Solutions, a merchant service provider, which has more than $2 billion in annual processing volume. Terms were not disclosed.NCR Corp. said it has closed on its acquisition of LibertyX, a provider of software for cryptocurrency transactions at ATMs and on various payment-acceptance devices. LibertyX …

Diners visiting Texas Roadhouse restaurants will soon be able to tap on digital offers in the Texas Roadhouse app thanks to a newly announced deal with Sparkfly, a retail services provider. In related point-of-sale news, Merrco Payments Inc. launched its expanded PayHQ service in the United States. Merrco specializes in …

It was probably only a matter of time before the two global card networks, which have already made overtures to blockchain technology, began venturing into support for central bank digital currencies. News of the latest development emerged very early Thursday with an announcement from Visa Inc. and blockchain software developer …

Visa Inc. announced a new payment platform, Visa Acceptance Cloud, which will let acquirers, payment service providers, point-of-sale system makers, and Internet of Things developers, to move the payment processing software from the hardware device to the computing cloud. Tests of the new platform are happening in North America, South America, …

Buy now, pay later loans are extremely popular, especially among Millennials and Gen Zers, because the loans give them more purchasing power, and they can spread out the payments, usually without having to pay interest.  Yet, despite the immense popularity of BNPL loans, evidence is emerging that consumers with multiple …

One of the most receptive markets for cryptocurrency could be that for content creators, most of whom are self-employed and looking for fast and reliable ways to get paid. That’s what BBTV Holdings Inc. figures, and on Wednesday the video platform launched Pay to Crypto to send payments to marketers on …

Visa Inc.’s Back to Business study found 82% of small businesses plan to accept some form of digital payment in 2022, with 24% saying they plan to accept digital currencies like Bitcoin. The study canvassed 2,250 small-business owners and employees in nine countries, including the United States.Payments provider Lightspeed Commerce Inc. said its merchants …

Having committed to rolling out automated voice ordering in drive-thru lanes at its corporate-owned restaurants, Checkers Drive-in Restaurants Inc. expects the new technology will improve order accuracy and significantly increase ticket sizes through more efficient upselling practices. Checkers’ commitment to automated voice ordering, which it announced Monday, comes at a time …

Lost in much of the conversation about digital payments, particularly since the onset of the pandemic, is what to do about the cash merchants take in. The Brink’s Co., which has been hauling and securing cash since 1859, says it has an answer, and on Tuesday it announced it also …

Sports-betting payments specialist PayNearMe Inc. said it has gained approval from the New York Gaming Commission to provide its MoneyLine platform to licensed operators in that state.Fly Now Pay Later, a buy now, pay later provider for travel services, closed a $75 million debt funding round from Atalaya Capital Management that will …

As part of its drive to increase operating efficiency, Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. is rolling out an artificial intelligence-based voice-automated ordering system. The system will enable consumers to place orders at the drive-thru lane of corporate-owned Checkers and Rally’s restaurants without the assistance of a restaurant employee. Checkers, which specializes …

Central bank digital currencies, cryptoassets, and privacy are three major priorities for the Electronic Transactions Association in 2022, the payments industry’s top lobbying group announced late Friday. All three are hot-button topics featuring strong opinions on opposing sides, presenting the payments industry with an uncertain roadmap for navigating the issues …

Transactions on prepaid cards worldwide reached $2.3 trillion last year and will exceed $4.1 trillion in 2026, according to Juniper Research. Over the same time span, fee revenue will grow from $22 billion to $32 billion.Payments fintech AppTech Payments Corp. said it closed on a $15-million public offering and announced its listing on the …