Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

Overall consumer spending per household moderated in October compared to September, up 2.9% year-over-year vs. 3.2%, according to a study from Bank of America Institute. Still, total transactions for the bank—cards, ACH, wires, bill pay, P2P, cash, and checks—increased 9%. Payments provider Green Dot Corp. reported consolidated gross dollar volume of $18.7 billion …

Affirm Holdings Inc. says it is on track to post profitable operating income in its fiscal year 2023. The declaration came during a conference call with analysts late Tuesday to discuss the buy now, pay later provider’s financial performance during the first quarter of its fiscal year 2023, which ended …

The tech giant Oracle Corp. early this summer launched a cloud-based payments-processing service aimed at the hotly contested restaurant market, and early on Wednesday the company added a handheld device for servers to use tableside. The new terminal, dubbed the Oracle Micros Simphony mobile order and pay device, runs on …

California grocer Ralphs has begun accepting Apple Pay in its 184 locations in the state, reported MacRumors.com, citing a company spokesperson. Ralphs is part of the Kroger Co., which Digital Transactions News reported in 2020 was testing contactless payments at some of its locations. Kroger launched its proprietary mobile-payments service Kroger Pay in 2019, but has …

The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC early Tuesday issued a white paper alleging that federal regulators are effectively blocking national banks from issuing stablecoins. This is despite the agencies’ own conclusion that the banks have the authority to issue the digital currency, the paper says. The paper also follows an …

Consumers are projected to be shopping more online this holiday shopping season, compared to the same period a year ago. Data released Tuesday by payments-technology provider ACI Worldwide Inc. projects a 15% increase in e-commerce transactions from October through December, compared to the same period in 2021. The projected increase …

Thomas Warsop is taking over as chief executive of payments-technology provider ACI Worldwide Inc., succeeding Odilon Almeida, who is stepping down after serving in that role since March 2020. Warsop formerly was non-executive chair of the board of directors and is being succeeded in that role by board member Adalio Sanchez. Dow …

Shift4 Payments Inc. has been a busy payments provider in recent years, and early Monday the company made plain its pace will only get faster and will include continued expansion internationally. Traditionally focused on the U.S. market, executives told equity analysts the company had closed on its first acquisition in …

As one who has spent an entire career working with community banks, credit unions, and merchants, I can say it’s abundantly clear how they all suffer from a broken payments system, with the Fed’s automated clearing house being the lone exception. While merchants and community banks don’t share the same …

Online fraud prevention provider Seon announced a free version of its platform, which will support up to 2,000 API calls each month. Online commerce services provider Signifyd released its first holiday season predictions tracker for 2022. American Express Co. said it will pledge $5 million to organizations helping cities and coastal communities tackle climate-related events. …

During its third-quarter earnings call late Thursday, PayPal Holdings Inc. announced a multi-pronged omnichannel strategy with Apple Inc. to enhance the company’s offerings for PayPal and Venmo merchants, as well as consumers. Topping the list was PayPal’s announcement that it plans to support Apple Tap to Pay on iPhones. The initiative …

Payments provider FIS Inc. and its Worldpay unit announced they will process all payments at TIAA Bank Field, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL team. The deal includes installation of 600 point-of-sale terminals featuring tap-to-pay functionality. Payments provider Paya Holdings Inc. reported third-quarter payment volume of $12.6 billion, up 14.3% year-over-year. Revenue totaled $71.4 …

Block Inc. is the parent of the well-known Square point-of-sale equipment and processing business, but it’s the company’s Cash App unit that has been stealing a steadily growing share of the limelight at the 13-year-old company. And now Block is working to find ways to link its two big units …

SoundExchange, a non-profit that collects and distributes digital performance royalties for sound recordings, is now enabling registered soundtrack creators to receive royalty payments through Zelle and Block Inc.’s Cash App mobile-payment service. Washington D.C.-based SoundExchange is a non-profit collective rights-management organization designated by Congress to collect and distribute digital-performance royalties …

Cryptocurrency platform Bakkt Holdings Inc. has agreed to pay $200 million to acquire Apex Crypto LLC, a crypto-trading platform for fintechs, from Apex Fintech Solutions Inc. Card manufacturer CPI Card Group Inc. said credit and debit card sales helped propel its third quarter revenue to $124.6 million, a 25.1% increase from $99.6 million in …

Two of the more significant merchant-processing operators reported quarterly results Thursday morning, with FIS Inc. indicating its merchant solutions unit recorded $1.18 billion in revenue in the period ended Sept. 30, up 4% year-over-year. Meanwhile, the large payments provider EVO Payments Inc. said its revenue for the same period totaled …

Two U.S.-based fintechs focused on blockchain payments technology have expanded their footprint into Singapore, giving both companies a jumping-off point for expanding their respective businesses in Asia. Circle Internet Financial LLC, a Boston-based company specializing in commercial blockchain and crypto applications, has received provisional approval from the Monetary Authority of …

A nascent movement among states to allow citizens to store a driver’s license or other state ID card in a mobile app could give mobile payments a lift, according to research released early Wednesday. Arizona in March was the first state to allow its citizens the option of storing a …

The payments platform Orum said it will rely on account-verification technology from open-banking provider MX Technologies Inc. to offer money-transfer capability targeted at fintechs.Checkout-free shopping provider Grabango said its in-store contactless checkout service is available at a Chevron U.S.A. Inc. location in California.Bluefin Payment Systems acquired TECS Payment Systems, an Austria-based omnichannel payments provider. Terms were not …

Socure Inc., a provider of digital-identity verification and fraud detection, has become the latest company to join the expanding universe of open-banking technology providers. On Tuesday, Socure announced the launch of Socure Account Intelligence, an application that verifies domestic bank-account status and ownership of the account into which funds are …