Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

Mark Horwedel, chief executive of the Merchant Advisory Group, an association of more than 100 of the nation’s biggest merchants that concerns itself with payment issues, plans to step down at year’s end. Replacing him will be John Drechny, chairperson of the group’s board of directors and currently senior director …

Payment-technology firm i3 Verticals could raise almost $100 million in an expected initial public offering, according to news reports. The firm, launched six years ago as Charge Payment, is led by Greg Daily, a former chief executive at iPayment Inc. ATM network owner and operator Cardtronics plc reported that under …

  Despite absolute agreement on the need for heightened payment and data security, there remains a lot of confusion and uncertainty among those tasked with ensuring and implementing it. With so many different technical terms out there, it’s easy to understand why this uncertainty occurs. Technologies such as P2PE (point-to-point …

In what could be its final earnings report as a public company, point-of-sale terminal maker and online payment technology provider VeriFone Systems Inc. reported Friday that its revenues for the quarter ended April 30 fell 7.5% from a year earlier, but its quarterly loss narrowed considerably. San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone …

The cryptocurrency market suddenly turned bearish over the weekend, with price drops Sunday among the top 10 coins ranging from 6% to 16%. Overall, the total market capitalization of more than 1,600 currencies tracked by Coinmarketcap.com stood at $296.3 billion Monday morning, compared to $339.4 billion around noon on Saturday, …

Intuit Inc. has stopped processing gun-related credit card transactions in at least some instances, the New York Post reported. The blocked transactions included sales of gun-related T-shirts and fees for gun-safety classes, according to the report. Intuit did not respond to requests for comment, the newspaper said. Sprott Money Ltd., which …

USAA, the big insurance company and bank serving current and former military members and their families, filed a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing Wells Fargo Bank of infringing on four of its mobile remote deposit capture patents. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Marshall, Texas, asks for unspecified damages. …

A lull in the longstanding war of words between merchants and the global payment card networks came to an end with the creation Thursday of the Secure Payments Partnership, an advocacy group of retailers and PIN-debit networks. On Friday, the Electronic Payments Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying organization led primarily …

The Korean automaker Hyundai has made agreements to let drivers pay through the car’s infotainment system for gas at Chevron or Texaco, meals from Applebee’s To Go, and parking through ParkWhiz. Other automakers working on similar payment systems include Ford for parking and vehicle service and Chevrolet and Jaguar for …

The payments industry’s drive to bypass—or eliminate—the traditional retail checkout typically involves a mobile app, but on Thursday Moltin, a 5-year-old Boston-based developer, introduced a browser-based self-checkout capability that lets customers ring up their own goods. The first merchant to deploy the technology is a San Clemente, Calif.-based clothing maker …

Discogs, a Web site and app that’s on a mission to build a comprehensive music database and marketplace, launched Discogs Payments this week for its U.S. online buyers and sellers of vinyl records and CDs. The integrated checkout, backed by Adyen, a Netherlands-based processor, is in addition to a system …

Several national merchant trade groups and PIN-debit networks have founded an advocacy group meant to give them a bigger role in the development of electronic-payment security standards. Founding members of the new Secure Payments Partnership include the Food Marketing Institute, National Retail Federation, National Association of Convenience Stores, National Grocers …

Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) said it purchased iMobile3, which provides point-of-sale and digital marketing services for payments companies to market to merchants, for an undisclosed amount. Chip maker NXP Semiconductors N.V. announced a collaboration with Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. with the launch of the NXP mWallet 2GO, a white-label …

Installment-payment specialist Splitit said retailers using the Salesforce Commerce Cloud can now offer the Splitit payment option via an integration into the Salesforce platform. Announced Wednesday, the integration enables merchants to offer an installment-payment option. Upon checkout, the consumer taps the Splitit button at participating Web sites. She is presented …

In the United States, at least, mobile wallets and contactless transactions in general have been a hard sell, but now research results issued Wednesday indicate so-called frictionless payments may themselves hold less attraction for consumers than many had thought. Apps that allow users to set up a payment method and …

Canadian debit card network Interac Corp. says it will soon offer its cardholders the ability to make cross-border purchases through a partnership with Ingenico Group’s Bambora payment-services subsidiary. The move is significant because it will create a stronger e-commerce presence for the Interac Debit service in international markets, giving Canadians …

Processor Fiserv Inc. said VyStar Credit Union, which ranks 17th among U.S. credit unions by asset size, has become the company’s first client to adopt an enhanced mobile-banking platform that offers newly introduced card controls. The controls allow cardholders to set rules for when, where, and how their cards can be …

Dutch payment processor Adyen B.V., which has a major U.S. presence, took another step toward its planned stock sale Tuesday when it published an offering prospectus and estimated its market capitalization at between €6.5 billion and €7.1 billion ($7.6 billion to $8.3 billion). Fast-growing Adyen is one of the most-watched …

Merchants, especially those reliant on point-of-sale software, continue to find themselves catching up to consumers when it comes to EMV adoption. But Rent Centric Inc., developer of browser-based software for the auto-rental industry, is the latest to make EMV acceptance available to its clients. Toronto-based Rent Centric says it now …

In their short history, trading platforms specializing in cryptocurrency have struggled with the suspicion of some that they are helpmates for shady activities that depend on anonymity. To dispel that notion, the Australian exchange Blockbid Pty Ltd. on Tuesday said it is working with LexisNexis Risk Solutions and ThreatMetrix to …