• Mastercard Inc. and investor and philanthropist George Soros announced plans “to explore private-sector solutions to societal challenges” by possibly creating a so-called social enterprise called Humanity Ventures that will apply commercial strategies to address such problems as joblessness and lack of access to health care and education. Soros might …

The Western Union Co. will pay $586 million to the federal government to reimburse consumers victimized by fraud as a result of the company’s allegedly lax supervision of agents and anti-fraud and money-laundering controls. The settlements announced Thursday are a result of investigations that covered payments involving the smuggling of …

Fraud is on the move and your online merchants need help. Fraudsters have more tools and better data to steal from merchants than ever before. Online Processors, Gateways, and eCommerce Platforms play a pivotal role in detecting and deflecting fraud before it hurts their clients. In response to the ever-changing landscape …

• The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority has accepted in principle a number of proposals Mastercard Inc. has made to dispel concerns the agency expressed earlier this month about the planned $920 million merger of Mastercard and the U.K.-based payments-technology firm VocaLink. The CMA had been concerned that the merger would hand Mastercard …

• Merchant processor iPayment Inc., along with its parent company iPayment Holdings Inc., announced a refinancing with holders of its senior secured notes that company officials say should result in a “substantial deleveraging” of the company and enable it to add services and products. • Equinox Payments LLC said it supports Android Pay …

• Payment technology provider MagTek Inc. introduced tDynamo, a compact terminal that accepts chip and magnetic-stripe payment cards as well as contactless transactions in either fixed or mobile configurations. • USA Technologies Inc. said its ePort Connect Platform’s G0-S series has been certified on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network. USAT’s ePort devices …

First Data Corp.’s newest division, the Integrated Solutions Group, is designed to entice software developers to create tools that hook into the giant processor’s payments platform. Announced Friday, the division is meant to foster ties between the Atlanta-based processor and independent software vendors, value-added resellers, software developers, and systems integrators. …

By Jim Daly @DTPaymentNews JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s merchant-processing subsidiary surpassed $1 trillion in payment volume last year, the New York City-based banking giant reported Friday. Chase Commerce Solutions, the No. 2 U.S. merchant acquirer after First Data Corp. and the biggest acquirer owned by a banking firm, posted merchant-processing …

• Bank of America Corp. reported combined credit and debit card purchase volume of $134.3 billion in the fourth quarter, up 4% from $129.5 billion a year earlier and up 6% when adjusted for earlier divestitures. • Wells Fargo & Co. reported debit card purchase volume of $78.4 billion in the fourth …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Bank and non-bank players alike are scrambling to claim a share of the peer-to-peer payments market, and a report released this week explains why: adoption is hot and getting hotter. Slightly more than one-third of U.S. consumers made at least one transaction last year, up from …