Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

In response to Canada’s moves to introduce further regulation of its payments industry, the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Transactions Association said this week it is “expanding” its advocacy effort into that country. So far, the ETA’s effort includes hiring a lobbyist to represent the interests of Canadian payments companies and U.S. …

U.S. consumers are apt to have more money—$485 on average—in their PayPal Holdings Inc. accounts than cash in their wallet, $196, finds the Future of Money Study from Logica Research. San Francisco-based Logica Research, formerly Koski Research Inc., also found that 58% of Americans have a PayPal account. A number of …

Samsung Pay launched in South Korea three years ago Monday, and on Tuesday Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. marked the anniversary by releasing some numbers for the mobile-payments platform. Widely known as one of three “Pays” that rely on near-field communication technology for in-store transactions (Apple Pay and Google Pay are …

Finalsite, a marketing and communication platform for the education industry, launched Finalsite Payments by integrating BlueSnap’s Payments for Platforms service. Fiserv Inc. introduced enhanced authentication techniques specifically aimed at call-center fraud. Mercator Advisory Group Inc. released its “U.S. Faster Payments Forecast, 2017-2021, Update: The Consequences of Faster Payments” research report. …

Notoriously picky about which payment forms it accepts, Costco Wholesale Corp. is now accepting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay in its U.S. stores. With 519 locations, Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco is the nation’s third-largest brick-and-mortar retailer, according to the National Retail Federation. In its warehouse-like stores, it accepts debit …

Contactless fare payments are still booming on London’s massive public-transportation network, but it’s a different story in the United States despite years of talk and testing. The latest figures from Transport for London, the agency that oversees the United Kingdom capital city’s subways and buses, show an average of 1.48 …

Payment-processing technology company Pineapple Payments has acquired payment-gateway provider Transax for undisclosed terms. The deal represents the fifth acquisition this year for Pineapple, which says it is processing $3 billion in annual volume for more than 13,000 merchants. Payments-technology provider linked2pay introduced what it calls instant merchant settlements for credit …

As of Monday, point-of-sale terminal maker Verifone Systems Inc. once again is a privately-held company. Announced in April, the $3.4 billion deal also sees Michael Pulli, former chief executive of Pace plc, step into the same role at San Jose, Calif.-based Verifone, replacing Paul Galant, who became CEO in 2013. Galant …

Amazon.com Inc. may not have a lock on the concept of a checkout-free store. A San Francisco-based startup company called Zippin said on Monday it has opened a store that lets consumers walk in, pick up the items they want to buy, and simply walk out. Zippin’s technology tracks what …

Deluxe Corp. is bridging the gap between paper checks and electronic payments for small businesses by integrating its eCheck technology with Inuit Inc.’s QuickBooks accounting software. The integration is expected to automate check writing and delivery for small and midsize businesses, many of which continue to rely heavily on paper …

Glance Technologies Inc., developer of mobile-payment service Glance Pay, announced a cross-licensing and cobranding agreement with Brewhound Inc., maker of the restaurant and bar locator The Happy Hour App. The dual integration means consumers using Brewhound’s app in the Vancouver, British Columbia, area can locate venues that accept Glance Pay, while …

Priority Technology Holdings Inc., the new corporate name for Priority Payment Systems following a deal with M I Acquisitions Inc., announced the acquisition of RadPad and Landlord Station, business software for landlords. Just a day after the FBI warned bankers about a looming malware scheme to make ATMs dispense cash …

Interchange on debit card transactions has changed relatively little in the nearly seven years since the Durbin Amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act took effect, but a Federal Reserve report notes one small but interesting recent change. The average interchange fee in 2017 for dual-message transactions on debit cards regulated …

Distributed-ledger payments provider Ripple Labs on Thursday announced three cryptocurrency exchanges that will work with its xRapid cross-border payments product. XRapid uses Ripple’s XRP digital currency and depends on exchanges to translate transactions into local fiat currencies. San Francisco-based Ripple said it is partnering with Bittrex for exchanges to U.S. …

In the wake of a major European outage for Visa Inc. this spring, major U.K. banks reported they had sustained a total of 80 “operational and security incidents” within their payments systems during the second quarter of 2018. British regulators this week began requiring banks to publicly disclose major incidents …

Payment processor First Data Corp. reported late Wednesday that it has extended its joint venture with Wells Fargo & Co.’s Wells Fargo Bank, which is one of the nation’s largest merchant acquirers and an important contributor to First Data’s payment volume and profits, until the end of 2024. Wells Fargo …

Financial institutions have been battling fast-growing fintechs and other nonbanks for payments share and revenue for years, but now new research indicates banks, which have historically controlled this crucial business, are on the cusp of slipping from that dominant perch. In 2017, U.S. banks’ total payments revenue netted out to …

Shell Oil Co. and General Motors Inc. announced Shell stations across the United States now accept in-dash fuel payments following tests earlier this year. Shell Pay & Save, available within the GM Marketplace on certain Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles, enables consumers to pay for fuel and earn and …

Payment Alliance International, the Louisville, Ky.-based ATM operator, is in the midst of a strategic shift, one that has seen three top executives resign from the firm. John J. Leehy III, president and chief executive, Greg Sahrmann, executive vice president and chief operating officer, and Donna Embry, chief payments advisor, …

Paysafe Group said it is rebranding merchant acquirer iPayment Holdings Inc. as Paysafe “with immediate effect.” Paysafe acquired iPayment this spring for undisclosed terms. Rewards platform provider Cardlytics Inc. said revenue from Cardlytics Direct, the company’s primary product, hit $35.1 million in the second quarter, up 21% from a year …