The Federal Reserve announced the 22 members of its new Fraud Definitions Work Group, another component of its sweeping Payment System Improvement Project. The group, which comes from the banking and payments industries, regional Fed banks, and other organizations, will work with Fed leaders on recommendations for improving the quality …

Fifty-nine percent of consumers cited the ability to pay quickly as a reason they use peer-to-peer payments apps, according to a survey of more than 380 consumers from Tallwave, a digital-services firm. More than 65% have used PayPal and 37% have used Venmo, PayPal’s P2P payment service. Verifi Inc. launched …

SpotOn Transact LLC said it will integrate Poynt Inc.’s smart point-of-sale terminal into its platform. SpotOn said it is the first to work with Poynt to integrate loyalty, marketing, and POS software directly into the terminal hardware. Synchrony Financial expanded the merchant categories eligible to accept its Synchrony Car Care …

The Trump administration is considering sanctions that would ban Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and financial institutions from handling transactions in Venezuela, according to Reuters. The move would be aimed at restricting the ability of the Venezuelan government, headed by embattled president Nicolas Maduro, to access funds. IBM Corp. may be …

Aliant Payments said it added Bob Moore Auto Group as a client for cryptocurrency processing. The agreement will allow the auto dealer to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin for cars, parts, and service at its Subaru dealership in Oklahoma City. Thales S.A. said Gemalto will operate as a separate company …

Merchant acquirer EVO Payments Inc. processed 821.6 million transactions in 2018’s fourth quarter, up 16% from 705.5 million a year earlier. European transactions grew 22% to 575.1 million while North American transactions rose 5% to 246.5 million. Fourth-quarter revenues increased 9% year-over-year to $150.8 million; the company posted a net …

Mastercard Inc. said it is purchasing Ethoca Inc., a fraud-mitigation firm, for an undisclosed amount. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Ethoca works with more than 5,000 merchants and 4,000 financial institutions. Mastercard intends to expand Ethoca’s capabilities and combine the company with its current security …

Repay Holdings LLC said its 2018 payment volume increased 42% to $7.5 billion from $5.2 billion in 2017. Its net income increased 12% to $10.5 million from $9.4 million. Repay is in the midst of a pending merger with Thunder Bridge Acquisition Ltd. Net Element Inc. unit Unified Payments will …

Mastercard Inc. has abandoned its pursuit of cross-border specialist Earthport PLC and instead has agreed to acquire New York City-based Transfast Remittance LLC, a cross-border account-to-account money-transfer network. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in 2019’s second half, were not disclosed. Visa Inc. last month made an …

PayActiv Inc. will use the Visa Direct platform from Visa Inc. to offer real-time deposits of earned funds to its clients’ employees. The funds can be loaded onto a Visa debit or reloadable prepaid card. PayActiv also launched its own Visa-branded general-purpose reloadable prepaid card. Testing lab Q-Card Co. said …