By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Merchants would like nothing more than to decipher what they call the “mysteries” of the payments universe, a select group of them told attendees Thursday at the Western States Acquirers Association conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. These mysteries, they said, include knowing whom to call when a problem …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Few things have thrown a spotlight on the 40-year-old chargeback process like the nation’s conversion to EMV chip cards at the point of sale, but it’s in online commerce where the problem has long plagued merchants. And now there’s evidence that these sellers may have more …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews The dispute between Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Visa Inc. over payment card acceptance costs intensified Thursday when the retailer’s Walmart Canada unit announced that it will extend its ban on Visa credit card acceptance from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to its 16 stores in the province of Manitoba. …

• Ripple, a provider of distributed-ledger technology for financial transactions, has completed a $55 million Series B funding round. • In related news, Tipalti, which provides a platform to automate supplier payments, announced a $14 million funding round. • Time Inc. said it has integrated Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay to allow mobile …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews When it comes to actively testing sensitive data networks for problems, only 23% of companies consider themselves as “very proactive.” This finding from a new Osterman Research Inc. survey of 126 companies representing thousands of employees arrives as the onslaught of breaches and malware continues to wreak …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews With malware and hacker attacks on payment card-accepting devices increasing in sophistication, the PCI Security Standards Council has announced updated rules for protecting such devices. “The updates are designed to stay one step ahead of criminals who continue to develop new ways to steal credit and debit …

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. signed the Best Buy Co. Inc. electronics chain to accept the Chase Pay mobile app in its nearly 1,400 stores, on its site, and in-app. Chase Pay is live with some e-commerce merchants and is expected to become available in stores and in-app later in …

By Rick Oglesby Visa Inc. chief executive officer Charlie Scharf and MasterCard Inc. CEO Ajay Banga must be all smiles these days. PayPal Holdings Inc. CEO Dan Schulman was clearly motivated to make peace with

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Two million U.S. merchants accept EMV chip cards at the checkout almost a year after the card brands made merchants also liable for counterfeit card use. That tally is a 468% increase from Oct. 1, 2015, the date of the liability shift, says MasterCard Inc., which provided …

• USA Technologies Inc., a provider of wireless payment services for vending machines and other unattended merchant locations, reported $169 million in purchase volume on its 429,000-location network in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 ended June 30, up 50% from a year earlier. Transaction volume hit 89 million, up …