Denver light-rail and bus riders will be making a bit of electronic-payments history this spring and summer by being the world’s first commuters able to use Uber Technologies Inc.’s mobile app to buy and use transit tickets. The new service, which will be rolled out over the next few weeks, …
Read More »Global Payments Touts Differentiated Strategy as Worldpay Reports Strong First-Quarter Results
The big merchant processors Global Payments Inc. and merger candidate Worldpay Inc. reported healthy first-quarter results Thursday. North America performed especially well for Atlanta-based Global Payments, generating $678.4 million in revenues, up 14% from $594 million in 2018’s first quarter. In contrast, European revenues slipped 0.3% to $142.9 million while …
Read More »Square’s Dorsey Not Troubled by the Acquiring Industry’s Mega-Mergers
Square Inc. has been a non-traditional merchant acquirer since its birth nearly a decade ago, and a wave of industry mergers won’t change that, according to chief executive Jack Dorsey. “I do think we will continue to see consolidation, but that doesn’t worry me,” Dorsey, who also is Twitter Inc.’s …
Read More »Apple Pay on Track To Hit 10 Billion Transactions in 2019
Boosted in part by transit systems and other merchants adopting contactless payments, the Apple Pay mobile-payments service had another quarter of record volume and is heading for a milestone this year, Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook said Tuesday. “Apple Pay transaction volume more than doubled year-over-year, and we are …
Read More »Mastercard Will Remain on the Hunt for Acquisitions and Fintech Investments, Its CEO Says
Mastercard Inc. has been active on the mergers-and-acquisitions front lately, and that’s going to continue, according to company president and chief executive Ajay Banga. The acquisitions typically involve financial-technology firms in all corners of payments. Just two weeks ago, Mastercard announced that it had acquired Vyze Inc., the provider of …
Read More »Carr Settles SEC Insider-Trading Lawsuit for $251,000
Former Heartland Payment Systems Inc. chief executive Robert O. Carr has agreed to pay a $250,628 civil penalty to settle an insider-trading complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to court documents filed this week. Carr did not admit or deny the SEC’s allegations, according to filings in …
Read More »Visa’s OK With Pending Mega-Mergers in the U.S. Payments Industry
The pending acquisitions of two leading merchant processors by two leading core financial-institution processors are a “good thing,” Visa Inc. chief executive Alfred F. Kelly Jr. said Wednesday. “We’ve got very good relationships and a lot of history with all four of these players,” according to Kelly. His comments came …
Read More »Zelle Posts $39 billion in P2P Payments on a 72% Transaction Increase
The bank-sponsored Zelle person-to-person payment service continued on its growth trajectory in the first quarter, with transaction volume up more than 70% and payment volume rising more than 50%. Zelle provider Early Warning Services LLC reported Wednesday that first-quarter payment volume hit $39 billion, a 54% increase from just over …
Read More »How an Old Standard Could Trip Up a New Generation of Contactless Payments
The surprising revelation by J.C. Penney Co. Inc. over the weekend that it had ceased acceptance of contactless payments unmasked the little-noticed ability of contactless mobile wallets to work with point-of-sale technology that far predates them but which Visa Inc. wants banished. The blend of old and new has worked …
Read More »JCPenney Drops Apple Pay
Department-store chain J.C. Penney Co. Inc. confirmed over the weekend that it no longer accepts Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payment service. The move appears to involve a Visa Inc. contactless rule that took effect this month that may have broader implications for U.S. retailers. The confirmation came in a tweet …
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