Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By John Stewart Few tactics lend instant credibility like adding heavy-hitter names to a company’s board. On Wednesday, the 5-year-old Bitcoin digital currency, and at least one startup offering Bitcoin wallets, gained a few notches on the credibility index when Xapo GmbH said Dee Hock, John Reed, and Lawrence Summers …
Read More »PayPal Opens One Touch Checkout to Any User, With Or Without the PayPal App
With the rapid spread of commerce on mobile devices, a key problem for merchants is getting customers to follow through with checkouts on tiny screens. PayPal Inc.’s answer to the problem is a solution that lets consumers check out with a single touch or click, and on Thursday it made …
Read More »A Cut in a Controversial ACH Fee Pleases Big-Box Retailer Group, But a Bank Shrugs
The reduced interbank fee of 5.2 cents contained in the same-day settlement plan approved this week by members of NACHA, the regulatory body for the automated clearing house network, is likely to go down better with major merchants than the 8.2-cent fee contained in the original proposal. “The level of …
Read More »With MasterCard Send, MasterCard Promises P2P Payments ‘Within Seconds’
MasterCard Inc. on Tuesday launched a person-to-person payment service in the United States that will allow debit card holders to send money to any other individual with a debit card account, regardless of the card brand and with the money arriving nearly instantaneously. The new service, dubbed MasterCard Send, also …
Read More »With a Lower Interbank Fee, NACHA’s Same-Day Settlement Plan Wins Approval
The voting members of automated clearing house network regulator NACHA have approved a plan to allow for same-day settlement of ACH transactions, NACHA announced Tuesday. The same-day proposal, which has been debated since its introduction early last year, received “overwhelming support” in the balloting, says a NACHA spokesperson. NACHA does …
Read More »New Devices, New Terminals, New Programs Will Drive In-Store M-Payments, Report Says
By John Stewart Left for dead as recently as two years ago, the concept of mobile payments in physical stores is staging a remarkable resurrection. The signs are everywhere. In April, PayPal Inc. said it will adopt near-field communication (NFC) after years of mocking the technology, which enables wave-and-pay transactions …
Read More »As Mobile Payments Applications Grow, Startups Reap Rich Investment Haul
Mobile payments emerged on the scene a few years ago, but now it’s clear every market they touch—from the point of sale to peer-to-peer transfers to online lending—has become hot for investment. For proof, look no further than the latest list of so-called unicorns, privately held startups valued at $1 …
Read More »Small-Merchant Funding Gallops Along as PayPal Hits $500 Million Mark, CAN Capital $5 Billion
Seemingly shunned by traditional lenders during the Great Recession a few years ago, small merchants turned to alternative financing to buy inventory and equipment. It’s a trend that shows few signs of dissipating. PayPal Inc. this week said it had lent $500 million in the first 18 months of …
Read More »MCX Stalwart Best Buy Gives Apple Pay a Boost As Apple Records Strong Quarter
Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payments service will be accepted by electronics giant Best Buy Co. Inc., first for in-app purchases and then, later this year, in all of its 1,050 U.S. stores, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said Monday. Cook also announced that some 50 hospitals have agreed to accept …
Read More »With Its Spin-off Looming, PayPal Reports Strong Growth in Mobile, Overall
By John Stewart Ahead of an expected separation later this year from its long-time parent eBay Inc., PayPal Inc. on Wednesday reported strong growth in both its overall business and in the burgeoning mobile-payments market. Payments volume for the San Jose, Calif.-based processor climbed 24% in the first quarter compared …
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