It’s a relatively new arrival among payment options for general merchandise, but the newest buy now, pay later concept has been available for air travel for some time, helping boost airlines after a tough year in 2020. In the latest development, Universal Air Travel Plan Inc. on Wednesday announced it …
Read More »Buy Now, Pay Later Reveals a ‘More Nuanced Picture,’ According to the Latest Research
The buy now, pay later capability now offered by myriad providers is sweeping the country, but may include a few drawbacks that could hinder future growth, according to a report issued Monday. Research for the report, which included a survey early this year of some 1,500 U.S. consumers, revealed that …
Read More »A Mastercard Report Estimates As Much As 30% of the Shift to Digital Payments Is Permanent
That the shift toward digital forms of payment was accelerated by the pandemic has been duly noted over the past year, but how much of that change will stick once the U.S. market and the rest of the world gets beyond Covid? Not all of it by any means, but …
Read More »Looking to Serve Bigger Payments, Nacha Sets a $1 Million Same-Day Limit for March 2022
Nacha on Monday announced it will raise its dollar limit on same-day transactions 10-fold to $1 million starting next March. The move, which will come only two years after the governing body for the automated clearing house network raised the cap to $100,000 from the original $25,000 limit, comes as …
Read More »With VizyPOS, VizyPay Aims to Bring Sophisticated Analytics to Small Sellers
App-based technology for point-of-sale transactions has been a preserve of POS system providers like Square and Clover, but now smaller independent sales organizations are looking for a piece of that growing pie. Early Thursday, VizyPay LLC announced VizyPOS, an app that can control such functions as cash discounting and real-time …
Read More »A Fingerprint Card Tech Advances After Achieving Compliance With Mastercard Specs
Card-based biometric authentication took a step forward with an announcement early Wednesday that a technology from Fingerprint Cards AB has complied with reference specifications set by Mastercard Inc. The compliance is a first for fingerprint authentication on a card, according to Sweden-based Fingerprints and Fime, an organization that consults on …
Read More »Visa Moves ‘Beyond the Card’ With an Expansion of Visa Direct to Bank Accounts
As payments providers ramp up fast-payment capabilities that don’t depend on existing card-payment rails, pressure has mounted on the dominant U.S. card networks to enable quick transfers from senders to accounts held by receivers worldwide. Visa Inc. on Tuesday, for example, announced Visa Direct Payouts, which allows users to send …
Read More »With USD Coin Settlement, Visa Plots a Future for Stablecoins on Its Global Network
Visa Inc. reported early Monday that after a year of preparation it has completed the first transaction involving direct settlement with a so-called stablecoin, USD Coin. The transaction, which involves a stablecoin that mirrors the U.S. dollar, allowed Crypto.com, a platform for the trading of digital currencies, to send transactions …
Read More »Fiserv Bulks up in Integrated Payments With a Deal for Pineapple Payments
Fiserv Inc. is adding more muscle to its payments-processing business, particularly with respect to integrated payments and relationships with independent software vendors. The big financial-services technology company announced Thursday afternoon it has agreed to acquire Pineapple Payments, a 5-year-old payments processor, for undisclosed terms. The deal is expected to close …
Read More »A Reported SEC Probe Casts a Spotlight on the Fast-Growing SPAC Trend
News late Wednesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is inquiring into a newly popular alternative for going public comes as payments firms increasingly turn to the method in lieu of a traditional public offering. Reuters reported late Thursday the SEC is contacting Wall Street financial institutions to ask …
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