Online account debiting has grown in usage and prominence as consumers and businesses turn to e-commerce in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. But now many businesses are reckoning with a rule that will take effect in March that requires sellers using the automated clearing house to perform more rigorous …
Read More »How Its Deal for Kount Lets Equifax Reinforce Its Capabilities Against Online Fraud
With consumers and businesses flocking to online commerce, companies of all sizes are reinforcing their technology for accepting transactions and rating them for risk. The latest example is the giant credit-reporting company Equifax Inc., which on Friday said it is paying $640 million to buy Kount Inc., a 14-year-old Boise, …
Read More »Bitcoin’s Notorious Volatility Clouds Optimism As the Digital Currency Zooms Past $40,000
One week into the new year, Bitcoin’s dizzying rise is prompting questions about what’s fueling it and how long it can go on before yet another crash. One factor, as it turns out, could be greater clarity concerning Bitcoin’s potential to enter the mainstream of retail payments after a dozen …
Read More »Covid—And a New Partnership—Help Push ParkMobile Into the Garage
The pandemic has in a few months’ time brought changes to the payments business that otherwise might have taken years—even in mundane environments like parking. One big development emerged Thursday with the announcement that TIBA Parking Systems, which manages access to more than 1.9 million parking spaces in the United …
Read More »A Last-Minute Presidential Ban on China-Based Payment Apps Puzzles Payments Experts
An executive order by President Donald Trump banning a pair of major Chinese payments apps comes in the waning days of his administration and may leave more questions than it answers, observers say. The order, issued Tuesday, prohibits transactions on eight China-based apps, including the hugely popular Alipay and WeChat …
Read More »PayPal Lines up Early to Help Stimulus Recipients Turn Their Checks Into Ready Cash
With a second round of federal stimulus payments having passed Congress, payments firms are lining up to help recipients speed the funds’ availability. PayPal Holdings Inc., for example, said late Tuesday it will waive the fees for stimulus recipients that it normally charges consumers to cash checks using its app. …
Read More »Texas Grocer H-E-B Offers SNAP Acceptance for Curbside Pickup And Home Delivery
The confluence of digital payments and economic hardship during the Covid-19 pandemic has led another major supermarket chain to offer SNAP EBT acceptance through its mobile app and on its Web site for curbside pickup and home-delivery orders. H-E-B, with 329 stores in Texas and another 55 in Mexico, said …
Read More »Scuppered Talks Between FIS And Global Payments Point to Enduring Importance of Size
Mega-merger fever hasn’t subsided in the payments industry. A combination of FIS Inc. and Global Payments Inc., which have reportedly broken off talks to merge in a deal that could be valued at $70 billion, would represent a continued push for yet more economies of scale in a business whose …
Read More »Instacart Heralds Fast Expansion of Its Service With Aldi for SNAP EBT Grocery Orders
An integration between online delivery service Instacart and grocery chain Aldi that lets customers use government benefits to order grocery deliveries has seen fast expansion since the program launched in October. Almost 1,000 Aldi stores in 23 states plus the District of Columbia have been added to the program in recent …
Read More »Bill Payments Account for One-Fifth of U.S. Consumer Spending, Research Shows
Household bill payments now total $2.75 trillion per year in the United States, accounting for 21% of all spending by U.S. consumers, according to a report released Thursday by doxo Inc., a provider of digital billing and payment services. The Seattle-based company’s research looks at bill payments via bank accounts …
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