Capping an eventful week for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin is now trading above $11,000 for the first time in three weeks. Even more important, the fees its users must pay when they spend Bitcoin—which had soared into the stratosphere in recent months— have crashed back to earth, according to data available Monday …
Read More »Operation Choke Point Lives on in Actions by Other Federal Agencies, ETA Chief Warns
While the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point initiative ended last year, over-zealous efforts by other federal agencies threaten law-abiding payments companies in the same way Choke Point did, the chief executive of the Electronic Transactions Association warned Congress on Thursday. Testifying before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on …
Read More »As Players Jockey for Position, Faster Payments Will Total $650 Billion This Year
Last year, the Federal Reserve set a goal of having ubiquitous faster payments available in the United States by 2020, and now the first estimates are emerging of just how much dollar volume will flow across systems already in place and in progress. The total will come to $650 billion …
Read More »A Startup Enlists E-ZPass for Car-Based Payments Away From Toll Booths
A Boston-based startup on Tuesday announced a service that lets holders of E-ZPass transponders pay for such things as car washes, gasoline, and drive-through items from their cars. Under an agreement with the E-ZPass Group, Verdeva Inc.’s PayByCar service will start a pilot program that lets users create an account …
Read More »Fit Pay Announces Flip, a Wearable for NFC Transactions Based on Bitcoin
It was probably only a matter of time before someone combined contactless payment, wearable devices, and cryptocurrencies. On Thursday, Fit Pay Inc. announced a device that will let users convert digital currency holdings into fiat currency for transactions at any point of sale capable of contactless interaction using near-field communication. …
Read More »Consumer Cynicism Climbs in a ‘Runaway Year for Fraudsters,’ a Report Finds
Thanks to the seemingly unending epidemic of data breaches—capped by the huge breach last summer at credit-reporting titan Equifax Inc.—consumers are becoming both more aware and more cynical about the problem, according to research released Tuesday by Javelin Strategy & Research. In the wake of the Equifax case, in which …
Read More »PayPal Takes a Beating As the Spotlight Shifts to eBay’s Payments Plans With Adyen
When news broke last week that eBay Inc. will begin moving away from its tight embrace of PayPal Holdings Inc. for payment processing, investors immediately punished PayPal’s stock, interpreting the move as a big blow to the company’s business. But the frenzy of PayPal shorting may have overlooked one thing: …
Read More »With Uncle Sam’s Tax Cut in Place, Visa Expects a $1 Billion Windfall
North America’s largest payments company on Thursday said it expects to receive a $1 billion bonus from the federal tax-reform bill passed into law in December. In contrast with its rival Mastercard Inc., which reported earlier in the day it recorded an $873 million charge in the fourth quarter related …
Read More »For PayPal, a New Deal Extends Its Link to eBay Even As It Seeks Out Other Marketplaces
PayPal Holdings Inc. on Wednesday said it has reached an agreement with its former owner, eBay Inc., that calls for PayPal to act as a checkout method on eBay for three years beyond the end of the five-year pact that separated eBay and PayPal in 2015. In that three-year period, …
Read More »Bank-Owned Zelle Puts Venmo’s Millennial Enthusiasts Squarely in Its Cross-Hairs
Payments observers who think Venmo and Square Cash have locked up the Millennial crowd for peer-to-peer payments may have to reconsider. With the new advertising blitz it announced Monday, the bank-owned Zelle service is making it plain it plans to steal its share of this huge consumer market. “The advertising …
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