Same-day processing for both credits and debits on the automated clearing house network finished its first full quarter on Dec. 31, and numbers released Thursday show a solid increase in volume and dollars. In particular, same-day debits, introduced Sept. 15 , are growing fast and finished the final quarter accounting for …
Read More »Programming Flaws, Volatility, And Sky-High Fees Bedevil Bitcoin Acceptance
While most payments executives have been fascinated by the spectacular year-long rise—and recent crash—in the value of Bitcoin, merchants that accept the cryptocurrency continue to struggle with a wide range of vexing issues. Overstock.com, one of the first merchants to accept Bitcoin, this week had to fix a programming flaw …
Read More »Security Fears Hobble Adoption And Usage of Mobile Payments, Fed Report Finds
If you ask consultants what’s holding back mobile payments in the United States, you’ll get answers ranging from lack of acceptance ubiquity to malfunctions at the point of sale to consumers’ perceptions that payment cards work just fine. Now the nation’s financial institutions have weighed in on the matter, and …
Read More »The ACH’s Hot Streak Cools off As Transactions Rack up a 3.8% Third-Quarter Jump
The automated clearing house network’s nearly uninterrupted growth tear took a breather in the third quarter, the period leading up to the introduction of same-day processing for ACH debit transactions. ACH transactions totaled 5.3 billion in the July through September quarter, according to NACHA, the Herndon, Va.-based governing body for …
Read More »QR Codes Gain Momentum, But the Resurgence Could Be Short-Lived, a Report Warns
New mobile-phone capability, coupled with physical stores’ response to the encroachment of e-commerce, will help drive the volume of digital coupons in the next few years, according to a new report. Worldwide redemptions of coupons via mobile phones and online will grow at an average annual rate of 14.1% through …
Read More »In the Wake of Bitcoin Mania, Transaction Fees Surge for a Trio of Major Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin’s high-flying value has lost some altitude lately, but the cost to perform a transaction is reaching record highs. At the same time, other major cryptocurrencies have also become increasingly expensive not only to buy but to use as a means of exchange. The average fee to perform a Bitcoin …
Read More »Some 2.5 Million, Or 55%, of All Merchant Locations Now Accept EMV, Visa Data Shows
Some 55% of all U.S. storefronts were accepting EMV chip cards as of September, according to the latest quarterly data from Visa Inc., released Monday. That comes to more than 2.5 million merchant locations, up 9% from June and 538% from September 2015, when 392,000 locations were accepting chip cards …
Read More »Looking to Bulk up in Small Merchants, TSYS Buys Cayan for $1.05 Billion in All-Cash Deal
The consolidation trend sweeping through the merchant-acquiring business made headlines again Monday morning with the news that Total System Services Inc. has agreed to buy Boston-based acquirer and technology provider Cayan LLC for approximately $1.05 billion in cash. The deal, which TSYS says it expects to close in the first …
Read More »As Bitcoin Struggles With Congestion, BitPay Looks To Add More Crypto Choices
With Bitcoin priced near $18,000 Friday morning, and with futures markets already trading Bitcoin contracts or getting set to, investors in the digital currency are riding high. Consumers who want to use Bitcoin to buy things, though, face a market rife with volatility, slow transactions, and high costs. Bitcoin exchanges …
Read More »In Making Its App Work With Apple’s Face ID, Discover Could Tap Into a Budding Appetite for Biometrics
Wider availability of technology that would have been nearly unthinkable only a few years ago is making biometric authentication a more likely replacement for the password. In the latest development, Discover Financial Services on Thursday announced users of its mobile app who own an iPhone X can log in to …
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