Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Jim Daly Citing what they say were improper communications between two lawyers on opposing sides of a $5.7 billion settlement between merchants and Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., attorneys for a group of about 30 merchants gave notice to the networks Tuesday that they want to have the settlement …
Read More »COMMENTARY: Three Reasons Why Digital Wallets Are the Future of Payments
By Nicole Chan When Apple Pay first entered the digital-wallet scene, consumer interest in the technology increased. Now the question is, will digital-wallet payments become universal? The short answer is yes. The three reasons below expand on why. Reason #1: The technology exists. Rarely has the developed world made a …
Read More »Stripe’s Value Pegged at $5 Billion as Visa, AmEx Invest in the Online Payments Startup
Payments behemoth Visa Inc. has poured some cash into Stripe, an independent online-payments startup, which will be used to aid Stripe’s international expansion. The specific Visa investment was not disclosed. But adding in investments from Sequoia Capital and American Express Co. that were made alongside the one from Visa, Stripe …
Read More »Eye On Earnings: AmEx’s Earnings Slip But OptBlue Grows; Discover’s Pulse Volume Dips
By Jim Daly and Kevin Woodward American Express Co. saw total revenues and profits decline by 4% in the second quarter, but its OptBlue program has added 700,000 small merchants this year. Meanwhile, Discover Financial Services reported late Wednesday that its Pulse volume fell after losing a large issuer. New …
Read More »COMMENTARY: Tokenization, Misinformation, and the Benefits of Host Card Emulation
Tokenization is not a new concept. Yet, while the process has improved card security across a variety of industries, there still exists myriad misinformation about why it’s important and how to best implement it. I’m going to argue that an approach called host card emulation (HCE) is the safest and …
Read More »Visa Posts 25% Profit Increase as U.S. Credit and Debit Volumes Climb
A tepid world economy didn’t stop Visa Inc. from posting an 8% increase in global transaction volume and a 25% jump in net income for the quarter ended June 30. The leading payment card network on Thursday reported operating revenues of $3.52 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2015, …
Read More »Investors Give a Thumbs Up to the Newly Independent PayPal
After a 13-year absence, online-payments provider PayPal Holdings Inc. debuted Monday morning on the Nasdaq Stock Market as an independent company following its spin-off Friday from parent eBay Inc. Investors looking for growth opportunities in payments liked what they saw, pushing PayPal’s price up approximately 6% and valuing the company …
Read More »First Data Files for Its Long-Awaited IPO, Seeks To Pay Down Debt
First Data Corp. filed a registration statement Monday for an initial public stock offering, a long-anticipated move that the highly leveraged payment processor expects will help reduce its debt. The statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission does not say how many shares First Data plans to issue or …
Read More »Eye on Prepaid: Users Want Universal Wallets, Plastic Gift Cards; InComm Adds Brands
While doubts persist about how appealing mobile wallets really are for consumers, a majority—54%—would use a mobile wallet if it were accepted at all merchants. That’s one finding from a Blackhawk Engagement Solutions Inc. survey, released Tuesday, on shopper behavior. Blackhawk Engagement Solutions is a unit of Pleasanton, Calif.-based Blackhawk …
Read More »Looking Ahead to Mobile, USAA Targets EMV Chips in 80% of Credit Cards by Fall
By October, 80% of the approximately 8 million credit cards issued by USAA Bank will bear an EMV chip, furthering the payment card industry’s efforts to migrate from magnetic-stripe cards. Meanwhile, the bank, a unit of USAA, a diversified insurance and banking company based in San Antonio, Texas, is still …
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