• Gift cards were the most sought-after gifts among consumers queried for a survey about the upcoming holiday season and sponsored by the National Retail Federation; 61% of respondents reported wanting a gift card, followed by clothing and accessories, 54%; and books, CDs, DVDs or videos, 40%. • Merchant processor …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Retailers can expect a bump upward in the dollars consumers load on closed-loop gift cards this holiday season as a festive spirit takes hold and more merchants favor the cards over holiday discounts, according to a forecast released Friday by payments consultancy Mercator Advisory Group. “Retailers …

• Citigroup Inc. became the latest bank to introduce a proprietary mobile wallet, in this case Citi Pay, which will launch later this year in Singapore, Australia, and Mexico, and in the U.S. early next year. Working with MasterCard Inc.’s Masterpass digital-payments service, Citi Pay provides online and in-app payment capability, …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews In a move that will further consolidate the U.S. acquiring business, payment processor Vantiv Inc. announced late Thursday that it has an agreement to buy Moneris Solutions Corp.’s U.S. merchant-acquiring subsidiary from its Canadian owners for $425 million in cash.  Also known as Moneris USA, Schaumburg, Ill.-based …

In today’s mobile first world, acquiring customers seamlessly and allowing them to securely transact in the mobile channel is key for any organization looking to win and retain customers. Additionally, the shift to mobile has fraud skyrocketing, while at the same time financial institutions and payments providers are facing ever …

• Payments-technology vendor Cardtek announced its Digital Enablement Platform for wearables payments. The platform relies on wearables chips from NXP Semiconductors and is aimed at integrating payment cards, transit tickets, and other services in wearable devices. Cardtek cites research from CCS Insight indicating there will be 411 million wearable devices …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Payment card manufacturer CPI Card Group Inc. rode the EMV chip card wave over much of the past two years, but slowing sales in the third quarter took a big bite out of its revenues and profits. “Our third-quarter results were below expectations, primarily due to continued …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews The PCI Security Standards Council is devising recommendations for protecting payment transactions on devices connected to the Internet of Things, a network with endpoints researchers say already number in the billions. The Wakefield, Mass.-based PCI Council, which oversees a number of security standards for the protection of …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews The impact of a Donald J. Trump presidency on the payments industry may not be known in concrete terms yet, but speculation suggests a fair number of moves meant to take some of the sting out of regulations. Republican Trump handily won the Electoral College vote Tuesday, …

By John Stewart@DTPaymentNews Bitcoin is on a tear again. The cryptocurrency has breached the $700 price barrier seven times out of the last nine days, according to data from Blockchain.info, and bids fair to remain above that level Tuesday. It was trading at $709 early in the day, according to …