Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
• Starbucks Corp. said JPMorgan Chase & Co. by year’s end will issue a Visa-branded Starbucks reloadable prepaid card that will allow cardholders to earn Starbucks “stars,” or loyalty points, for purchases just about anywhere Visa is accepted; the new card is an extension of Starbucks’ relationship with JPMorgan Chase’s payment-processing unit, Chase Commerce Solutions.
• Apple Inc. later this year plans to expand its Apple Pay mobile-payments service beyond apps to include mobile Web sites, the Re/code news service reported. The expanded capability, which will be available to shoppers using Apple’s Safari browser on iPhones and iPad tablets equipped with Apple’s TouchID fingerprint technology, could provide more competition to online payments leader PayPal Holdings Inc., which is available on many mobile sites.
• ATM manufacturer Diebold Inc. has acquired 68.9% of Wincor Nixdorf’s shares, slightly more than the 67.6% minimum it needs to proceed with its planned buyout of the German ATM maker for $1.8 billion in cash and Diebold stock; Diebold expects the deal, which still needs regulatory approvals, to close this summer.
• Tablet-based point-of-sale specialist Revel Systems opened a Dallas office to serve Texas merchants. Currently, Revel has 20 employees in the office with plans to hire another 60 by the end of 2016.
• Square Inc. added support for Facebook advertising to its Customer Engagement tools. The integration with Facebook allows Square merchants to buy ads through their Square account, which enables tracking of ad response and sales results.
• Financial Transmission Network Inc. announced it will provide receivables-processing services to the independent food distributors that are members of Frosty Acres Brands, a national marketing and food-purchasing cooperative.
• In a piece about retailers’ frustrations in getting EMV equipment certified, The New York Times said a local grocery-store chain in New York has spent $700,000 to update its point-of-sale terminals but has been hit with thousands of dollars in chargebacks because it hasn’t yet been able to turn on chip acceptance.
• UL said its UL Brand Test Tool can now test point-of-sale terminals for their ability to support mobile-wallet transactions.
