Bill payment continues to reign as the most-used payments feature of banks’ mobile apps, but mobile deposit and person-to-person payments are coming on strong, according to new findings from research firm Celent and FI Navigator Corp. The “Mobile Banking Quantified” study by Celent, a division of New York City-based of Oliver …

Continuing the stepped-up growth rate it’s seen for nearly two years, the automated clearing house network’s transaction volume grew 5.7% in the third quarter, slightly better than the second quarter’s 5.6% growth. The third quarter was notable for marking the start of same-day ACH processing. The latest quarterly report from …

The Electronic Check Clearing House Organization (ECCHO), a leader in the movement to develop check image exchange, announced Monday that it is “exploring possible strategic opportunities.” The terms “exploring strategic opportunities” or “exploring strategic options” usually mean a company is up for sale. It is indeed possible that the ECCHO …

USA Technologies Inc. (USAT), a provider of electronic payments for vending machines and other unattended locations, said Monday that it is working with Ten M. Corp. to upgrade 1,000 of Ten M’s vending machines with USAT’s ePort Connectcashless payment technology. In addition to cash, the ePort devices will enable the machines to …

Payments Canada, operator of three major payment systems in that country, issued a five-point plan Thursday to put Canada on a path toward faster and more efficient electronic payments. The plan has many similarities with efforts by Canada’s southern neighbor to modernize payments, but also some differences, according to a …

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults now carry a general-purpose credit card, and credit cards are gaining popularity with young adults, according to new consumer survey findings from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. The Maynard, Mass.-based research and consulting firm reported this week that 63% of U.S. consumers have a major-brand credit …

Despite years of efforts by transit agencies, payments companies and banks to get mass-transit riders to switch to cards or mobile tickets, most riders still prefer to pay fares with cash and regard cash as the most secure payment form, according to new survey results from payment technology provider ACI …

The U.S. Treasury Dept.’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks, plans to create a special-purpose national bank charter for financial technology companies, a booming field in which payments firms play prominent roles. Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry divulged the planned charter during a speech Friday at …

In a move that expands its business as a provider of risk-control services for merchants and card issuers, Visa Inc. announced Thursday that it has a deal to acquire e-commerce payment-authentication provider CardinalCommerce Corp. Founded in 1999, Mentor, Ohio-based CardinalCommerce’s signature product is Cardinal Secure Authentication, a service that uses …

The National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend $27.5 billion on gift cards this holiday season, up 5.8% from $26 billion in 2015. The increase follows the 18% plunge last year from $31.7 billion in 2014, which was the highest gift card spending total in at least seven years on NRF surveys. …