Even though credit card spending is still depressed as a result of the Covid-19 economic downturn, payment card volume trends have now been improving for a month or more, according to new data from credit-union service organization PSCU. St. Petersburg, Fla.-based PSCU reported Monday that overall credit card spending by …
Read More »Priority Technology’s Sales Machine Kept Humming Even While Payment Volume Plunged 27%
It was a nasty April for Priority Technology Holdings Inc. as the Covid-19 business downturn tightened its grip, but the merchant acquirer is looking to integrated payments and other growth areas to soften the blow. “In the month of April we processed roughly $2.7 billion in volume, which was down …
Read More »Mastercard Says New Data Show Spending Headed Toward ‘Normalization Phase’
New network data from Mastercard Inc. show U.S. switched volume is off 6% year-over-year for the week ending May 7 compared with a 26% decline in the week ending April 30. Mastercard on Thursday released two more weeks of network data, for the weeks ending May 7 and April 28, …
Read More »Get Ready for the ‘Global Reset’ in Payments Spurred by Covid-19
The world’s response to Covid-19 already has accelerated trends underway in the payments business, and pandemic-spurred innovations will continue after the contagion eases, according to three senior industry executives. “The impacts of Covid-19 represent a true global reset of the entire market, not just our payments market,” said Philip McHugh, …
Read More »Eye on Acquirers: ‘Signs of Hope’ for Restaurants; ISO Parent Newtek Funds $700 Million in PPP Loans
Merchant processor Shift4 Payments LLC reported Monday it has seen a big jump in restaurant payments in the past week, and the parent company of independent sales organization Newtek Merchant Solutions says it has approved and funded $700 million in loans to small businesses under the federal government’s Covid-19 relief …
Read More »EVO Payments Says Inactive Merchants Coming Back to Life During Nascent Economic Revival
After suffering through a 40% year-over-year decline in payment volume because of the Covid-19 pandemic, merchant processor EVO Payments Inc. says many merchants that went dormant are generating transactions again. Atlanta-based EVO’s active merchant count declined by about 35% during the worst part of the pandemic-induced business slowdown in mid-April, …
Read More »Despite a Big Quarterly Loss, Square Eyes Bright Spots in the New Covid-19 Environment
Square Inc.’s seller volume is down and its net loss more than doubled to $106 million in the first quarter. But Square’s Cash App service is thriving during the Covid-19 pandemic, and Square expects its merchant business will more than recover. “We see significant opportunity to bring new sellers and …
Read More »Visa Postponing Most Interchange Rate Changes Until April 2021
Citing the business disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Visa Inc. announced late Tuesday that it will delay until next April most of the interchange rate changes it had planned for July. The network also publicly confirmed the six-month postponement of its EMV liability shift for fuel pumps, and further …
Read More »Visa Will Postpone Its Fuel-Pump EMV Liability Shift for Six Months, C-Store Group Says
Visa Inc. has informed petroleum retailers that it will delay its planned EMV fuel-pump liability shift set for October until April 17, 2021, the convenience-store trade group NACS disclosed Friday. “The network’s delay was in response to letters NACS sent on behalf of its retail members to the four global …
Read More »With Travel Spending Nearly Grounded, Visa Looks to Online And Contactless Payments as Bright Spots
Visa Inc. divulged both grim and hopeful payment data Thursday that largely reflects what its rivals have been seeing after the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic. “After strong growth in January and February, payments volumes dropped precipitously in the second half of March as lockdowns went into effect across …
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