The panelists were not subtle in assessing the future of digital currencies and the decentralized blockchain technology behind them. “Cryptocurrencies and blockchain will take over the world, it will be a bigger impact on the world than the Internet,” said investment banker Dennis O’Neill, chief executive of Chicago-based O’Neill Capital …
Read More »U.S. EMV Merchant Locations Grew by 400,000 in 2018’s First Half, Visa Data Show
Approximately 400,000 U.S. merchant locations began accepting EMV chip cards in 2018’s first six months, according to new data from Visa Inc. In its latest report on the U.S. conversion from magnetic-stripe payment cards to the EMV standard, Visa on Wednesday said 3.1 million merchant locations accepted the new cards …
Read More »Cash Pick-Up Deal With Ria Brings PayPal’s Xoom to 60 More Countries
Xoom, the online money-transfer service that PayPal Holdings Inc. acquired in 2015, will enter 60 more countries and expand in 26 more under a deal announced Tuesday with Euronet Worldwide Inc.’s Ria money-transfer subsidiary. The pact enables Xoom payment recipients to pick up cash transfers from senders, most of whom …
Read More »Google Exec: Google Pay Represents More Than a Rebranding
To outsiders, Google’s mobile-payment services have experienced a few identity crises along the way. But the service now known as Google Pay represents much more than a rebranding, according to Jack Connors, the executive who heads commerce and merchant partnerships at Google, the primary subsidiary of Mountain View, Calif.-based Alphabet …
Read More »A $650 Million Loan Eases Diebold Nixdorf’s Financial Woes, At Least for Now
Shares of cash-strapped Diebold Nixdorf Inc. jumped 12% Monday morning in the wake of news from the ATM manufacturer and financial and payment software provider that it had secured a commitment for a $650 million loan, easing the liquidity problems that it had encountered in recent weeks. North Canton, Ohio-based …
Read More »Payments Incumbents Can’t Rest on Their Laurels, Researchers Say
Payment-industry incumbents, particularly the global credit card networks and their allied banks and processors, can’t rest on their laurels lest fast-growing mobile and non-card payment systems in much of the world leave them in the dust. That was the conclusion of payments researchers Friday who spoke at the Mobile Payments …
Read More »Lyft Wants the Payments Industry To Develop Processes Friendlier To the Gig Economy
Despite its detractors, the so-called gig economy that relies on freelance workers looks like it’s here to stay. And Lyft Inc., a leading ride-share provider that’s a major player in the gig economy, would like to see the payments industry evolve to meet the gig economy’s needs. Ashwin Raj, the …
Read More »Adyen Sees Strong Growth in POS and North American Volumes
Best known as an online payment processor, Adyen N.V.’s point-of-sale processing volume in 2018’s first half more than doubled in a year, the Amsterdam-based firm reported Wednesday. In its first earnings report since its June initial public offering, Adyen, which has U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, reported processed volume of …
Read More »Warehouse Retailer Costco Is Now Accepting ‘The Pays’
Notoriously picky about which payment forms it accepts, Costco Wholesale Corp. is now accepting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay in its U.S. stores. With 519 locations, Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco is the nation’s third-largest brick-and-mortar retailer, according to the National Retail Federation. In its warehouse-like stores, it accepts debit …
Read More »General-Purpose Contactless Payments Continue To Struggle on U.S. Transit Systems
Contactless fare payments are still booming on London’s massive public-transportation network, but it’s a different story in the United States despite years of talk and testing. The latest figures from Transport for London, the agency that oversees the United Kingdom capital city’s subways and buses, show an average of 1.48 …
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