Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

Ever since mobile payments first captured the public imagination four years ago with the launch of Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay, experts have debated why usage of the iOS and Android wallets has fallen short of the original, lofty expectations. Some speculate that usage would rise markedly if the mobile wallets …

Vending machine payments provider USA Technologies Inc. reported Wednesday that The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC has accepted its plan to regain compliance with its listing rule. The company, however, still hasn’t completed an internal investigation of customer contracts that has delayed the filing of its financial reports. The NASDAQ in …

Boosted by its 2017 acquisition of Singular Payments, merchant processor Payment Data Systems Inc. said its credit card transactions rose 109% year-over-year in the third quarter and dollar volume rose 112%. Revenues increased 80% to $6.47 million from $3.59 million in 2017’s third quarter. The company reported a net loss of …

Giant card issuer Chase once again will issue contactless credit and debit cards, the bank announced Wednesday. Chase, a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co., says it will begin later this year issuing contactless EMV cards bearing the Visa Inc. brand, first to its Chase Freedom Unlimited and Chase Slate …

Rewards platform provider Cardlytics Inc. on Tuesday reported its user base and revenue per active user grew in the third quarter, but the company nonetheless trimmed its full-year revenue forecast. The company’s primary product, Cardlytics Direct, provides merchant-funded rewards programs distributed through financial institutions’ online and mobile-banking sites. Cardlytics Direct …

The e-commerce platform BigCommerce Pty Ltd. on Wednesday announced two new supported payment methods, including PayPal Holdings Inc.’s Venmo service. With the addition of Venmo, Austin-based BigCommerce gave a big lift to PayPal’s strategy  to find revenue for what has been a fast-growing but free peer-to-peer payment service, though merchant pricing …

Sionic Mobile, a provider of payment and rewards technology, announced a single account through which users can pay a range of providers through mobile devices or in-car commerce. Gas Pos, which sells EMV-acceptance services to fuel retailers, announced a $1 million investment from Merus Capital, a venture-capital firm. Bluefin Payment …

Following through on plans disclosed earlier this year, the Federal Reserve on Tuesday formally unveiled the U.S. Faster Payments Council, an industry group charged with collaborating to spur the adoption of faster payments and identify market opportunities. The 22 inaugural members range from retailing giant Walmart Inc. to Visa Inc. …

As the holiday shopping season swings into gear, look for more consumers using their smart phones for shopping—but not so much for making a mobile payment, says GfK, a Germany-based consulting firm, in its latest FutureBuy research. Forty-five percent of all U.S. consumers rank mobile devices, including smart phones and …

Poynt Co., a startup supplier of intelligent payment devices, argues so-called smart terminals should have a common operating system like smart phones do. And in announcing a $100 million funding round on Tuesday, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company also argued it should be the one to provide that OS. Investors …

[Image Credit: Any IP Ltd.] With malicious bots bombarding the Web, tech vendors are adding services to shield banks, retailers, and other firms with data behind login pages from the onslaught. The newest is Cequence ASP from Cequence Security, which the Silicon Valley firm says detects and ends attacks through …

The Federal Reserve formally announced the creation of the U.S. Faster Payments Council, an industry organization intended to promote the adoption of secure faster-payment systems through industry collaboration and education. The 22 founding members include payment card networks, banks, Walmart Inc., and automated clearing house network governing body NACHA. The group is …

Addressing doubts among at least some sellers, eBay Inc. seller advocate Jim “Griff” Griffith said sellers “can put [their] consternation aside” regarding the marketplace giant’s new managed-payments program, which will not include traditional eBay payment method PayPal until next year. Online payments provider Stripe Inc. agreed to use Visa Inc.’s push-payment …

Fallback fraud, an offshoot of the counterfeit fraud that EMV chip cards are meant to reduce, declined over the past year, according to new findings from Auriemma Consulting Group. Fallback fraud refers to fraud resulting from would-be EMV payments resorting to the credit or debit card’s back-up magnetic stripe because …

PayFacto Inc., the new name for a combination of what had been three separate companies, launched with a mission to cultivate merchants with a trio of payments services. Montreal-based PayFacto is the result of combining B2Billing, CT-Payments, and Supreme Payments. Each of the Canadian firms had different specialties that PayFacto …

Shares of wire-transfer provider MoneyGram International Inc. tumbled 29% Friday morning after the company reported declining revenues and a $125 million settlement with the federal government over lax fraud controls at some agent locations. The settlement involves “allegations that the company failed to take steps required under a 2009 Federal …

The major U.S. payment card networks have been trying to set up shop to process domestic transactions in mainland China for years, only to encounter government resistance. But American Express Co. announced a breakthrough Friday with a deal to become the first overseas network to win an OK to operate …

A survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found 73% will shop at a store for gifts this holiday season, but 13% will also use a virtual assistant, such as Siri or Alexa. Some 57% will use a computer and 42% a mobile device, according to the poll, conducted by merchant processor …

Payment processor Worldpay Inc. said pro-forma net revenues in its Technology Solutions e-commerce segment grew 17% year-over-year to $420 million while pro-forma revenues in its Merchant Solutions segment rose 4% to $506 million. Pro-forma revenues in the Issuer Solutions segment increased 4% to $91 million. Worldpay also promoted Mark Heimbouch …

Square Inc. on Wednesday played up its recent launch of an important new hardware product and celebrated what it called its first quarter of profitability under generally accepted accounting principles. While executives did not discuss sales numbers for Square Terminal, a $399 touchscreen-equipped handheld device the San Francisco-based company released …