Alphabet Inc.’s Google subsidiary is adding more services to its Google Wallet for Android mobile devices, and Google’s Chrome Web browser now supports a common e-commerce payment form for merchants that is expected to be integrated into the other major browsers too. United Airlines Inc. in May became the first …
Read More »TCH Forges on with Its Real-Time Payments Network as the Fed Crafts a Rival Service
The private-sector operator of the only national real-time payments network wasn’t too enthused when the Federal Reserve announced earlier this month that it would launch a rival service in 2023 or 2024, but the Fed’s move sparked at least a temporary windfall for The Clearing House Payments Co. “One of …
Read More »Why Mobile Payments Don’t Deliver for Merchants
Mobile payments so far account for a mere 2% or less of U.S. general-purpose card payments, according to some estimates, and that’s no surprise to some executives who believe mobile payments haven’t delivered for many merchants. “I don’t think anyone in the market is solving problems for the retailers,” Laura …
Read More »Instant Payments Give Citigroup’s CitiConnect APIs a Lift
Launched in November 2016, the CitiConnect set of application programming interfaces for payments and related functions is gaining traction, particularly from companies supporting instant-payment services in Asia and Europe, Citigroup Inc. reported Monday. The New York City-based global banking giant said CitiConnect has processed 157 million API calls, or requests …
Read More »Eye on Cryptocurrency: Libra Backers Getting Cold Feet? Settlement in Alleged Crypto Pyramid Scheme
Several backers of Facebook Inc.’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency are having second thoughts because of regulatory pushback, according to a British newspaper report. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission announced settlements Thursday with four defendants accused of falsely promising big returns to consumers who paid in cryptocurrencies to participate in an alleged …
Read More »Chase To Discontinue Chase Pay Mobile App Early Next Year; Online and In-App Functions To Remain
Banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. will pull the plug on its Chase Pay mobile app in early 2020, though the payment service will continue online and in some merchant apps. Chase disclosed the coming changes in an email notice to customers Wednesday. The notice gives no reason or exact …
Read More »Square Expands Its Software Platform Beyond Payments With a New Ordering System
Less than a month after getting into the product-photography business, Square Inc. on Thursday said it was opening its software platform beyond payments so that outside developers can create systems for merchants to handle orders. In a post on its developer blog, San Francisco-based Square noted that over the past …
Read More »EMVCo Proposes Spec Changes To Accommodate Longer Issuer IDs
Payment card standards body EMVCo on Thursday disclosed proposed specifications changes to accommodate the coming of longer issuer identification numbers on credit and debit cards, changes that could affect merchants using card numbers to identify their loyalty program members in addition to processing protocols. The changes stem from a revised …
Read More »After a Quarter Century, E-Commerce Heads Into New Territory
Hard to believe, but e-commerce is a quarter-century old. Along the way, e-commerce radically changed retailing and payments, and now it’s heading into a future with more growth certain but where payments are more in the background. Visa Inc. this week reported in a blog post that the first e-commerce …
Read More »Uber Says It’s Having Some Success in Reducing Payment Card Costs
Ride-sharing leader Uber Technologies Inc. reported Thursday that it’s had some success in reducing payment card acceptance costs, though it didn’t say by how much. “We continue to make good progress,” Nelson Chai, San Francisco-based Uber’s chief financial officer, said on a late-afternoon conference call with analysts to review the …
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