Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

First American Payment Systems LP launched 1stPayPOS Pro, a tablet-based point-of-sale system that uses an Android-powered device to accept multiple payment methods, including EMV and Apple Pay and Google Pay. Payments provider National Merchants Association said it plans to open an office in London after it obtains a payment-facilitator certification …

The huge CES (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) expo is underway in Las Vegas, and out of it are coming the latest whiz-bang developments in payment technology. Among them: connected cars that enable the driver to pay for gas with a Visa card and authenticate the transaction with an iris …

Say goodbye to Android Pay and Google Wallet, and say hello to Google Pay. Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit on Monday announced a rebranding of its disparate online payments services under the single moniker Google Pay. The new branding’s scope is so broad that even the function within Chrome Web browsers …

As technology firms, both within financial services and those entering it, take larger shares of banking revenue streams and become more like banks, financial institutions will beef up their tech investments as they attempt to counter this pressure, advises Aite Group LLC in a report on 2018 financial-services trends. In …

Vantiv Inc. shareholders approved the processor’s planned acquisition of London-based merchant acquirer Worldpay Group plc with 99.9% of votes cast in favor, Vantiv reported. The companies expect the merger to close Jan. 16 following approval of a British court. The merged company will be known as Worldpay Inc., and its …

Traditional card-based loyalty programs, like those offered at local grocery stores, car washes, and restaurants, can drive consumer loyalty simply because many people are already familiar with them. But if brands want to improve the depth of the consumer experience, evolving to a digital-based loyalty program can provide consumers with …

The Western Union Co. and the New York Department of Financial Services announced Thursday that the wire-transfer market leader will pay a $60 million fine to settle alleged violations of the state’s anti-money-laundering laws, including transactions that supported human trafficking from China. New York authorities alleged that between 2004 and …

If you ask consultants what’s holding back mobile payments in the United States, you’ll get answers ranging from lack of acceptance ubiquity to malfunctions at the point of sale to consumers’ perceptions that payment cards work just fine. Now the nation’s financial institutions have weighed in on the matter, and …

Suburban Cleveland-based merchant processor Electronic Merchant Systems announced it will move its headquarters to downtown Cleveland in mid-2018. The new location offers about 48,000 square feet of space. Point-of-sale equipment maker Star Micronics released PromoPRNT, a service that enables merchants to create printed promotions in addition to receipts. U.S. Attorney …

A group of California small businesses won a victory Wednesday when a three-judge panel of a federal appellate court upheld their challenge to California’s ban on credit card surcharges, but a key aspect of the ruling applies only to the merchants who sued the state. Still, the ruling represents at …

The automated clearing house network’s nearly uninterrupted growth tear took a breather in the third quarter, the period leading up to the introduction of same-day processing for ACH debit transactions. ACH transactions totaled 5.3 billion in the July through September quarter, according to NACHA, the Herndon, Va.-based governing body for …

Unattended-payments specialist USA Technologies Inc. announced that vending-machine operator Jackson Brothers of the South is upgrading an additional 750 machines to accept cashless payments. When completed, the expansion will mean all 1,000 Jackson Brother machines will accept cashless transactions such as Android Pay and Apple Pay in addition to traditional …

New mobile-phone capability, coupled with physical stores’ response to the encroachment of e-commerce, will help drive the volume of digital coupons in the next few years, according to a new report. Worldwide redemptions of coupons via mobile phones and online will grow at an average annual rate of 14.1% through …

Shares of publicly traded payments companies lost some strength as 2017 drew to a close, but for the year as a whole they handily outperformed three widely watched market indexes during one of Wall Street’s best years in recent memory. Twenty-nine electronic transaction processor stocks tracked by Chicago-based investment firm …

Payments provider Clearent LLC announced its acquisition of SPOT Business Systems LLC, an independent software vendor serving the dry-cleaning industry. Terms were not disclosed. Shares of MoneyGram International Inc. dived about 9% Wednesday morning in the wake of Tuesday’s news that China’s Ant Financial Services Group would not be acquiring …

Unable to get approval from federal authorities, wire-transfer provider MoneyGram International Inc. and China-based Ant Financial Services Group disclosed Tuesday that they have terminated their merger agreement, almost a year after it was first proposed. In a joint news release, the firms said they’re bailing on Ant’s plan to acquire …

A startup called Prepaid2Cash announced the availability of its app for both iOS and Android. The app allows holders of network-branded prepaid cards to move money from the card to a bank account within three days. The service costs 7.5% plus $1.50. Payments provider Pinpoint Intelligence said it now serves …

Kansas-based ATM operator Prineta LLC said it has acquired 20 ATMs in Corpus Christi and Coastal South Texas. The seller’s identity was not immediately available. Prineta operates more than 1,000 ATMs nationwide, according to a spokesman. This is the company’s third ATM acquisition in 2017. Forever 21 Inc. reported encryption …

Merchant processor EVO Payments International said it has an agreement with Madrid-based Liberbank SA to buy Liberbank’s merchant-acquiring business in Spain; terms of the deal, which is expected to close by March 31, were not disclosed. Credit card delinquencies and chargeoffs have increased slightly over the past year, according to …

Mastercard Inc.’s latest SpendingPulse report says year-over-year holiday sales increased 4.9%, their best showing since 2011. Online sales grew 18.1%. The report for the Nov. 1-Dec. 24 period covers all payment types, including cash and checks. Without being more specific, Amazon.com Inc. said “millions” of members of Amazon Prime shopped …