With a looming holiday shopping season inflected by uncertainties surrounding the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, payments firms are trying to work out how consumers may change spending habits this year. A study released Thursday indicates processors expect a healthy jump in e-commerce volume, including a surge for gift cards. …
Read More »A Pilot Is Coming for FedNow, But Some Question the Fed’s Deliberate Pace
The announcement from the Federal Reserve late Monday of a pilot for the FedNow real-time payments service may represent an important stage in the development of a service not expected to go live until 2023 at the earliest. But observers caution rival services have already made headway with key market …
Read More »Shift4 Adds an Ordering Capability to Its QR Code Technology for Restaurants
Shift4 Payments Inc. on Monday announced it is expanding its Quick Response code capabilities for restaurant clients to include an ordering function. Customers will now be able to scan a QR code displayed by the eatery to bring up a menu and to place an order, the Allentown, Pa.-based processor …
Read More »Infection Fears Could Give a Boost to a ‘Reverse ATM’ That Takes in Cash, Dispenses Cards
With cash on the outs with many pandemic-wary consumers and merchants these days, payments firms are looking for alternatives. One such option is a so-called reverse ATM, a machine that takes in cash instead of dispensing it to allow users to convert paper money into an electronic payment instrument. An …
Read More »Fast-Growing Shopify Adds a Crypto-Fiat Hybrid Payment Gateway From Alchemy Pay
Shopify Inc., an e-commerce payments and marketplace platform that accounts for more U.S. e-commerce sales than any other company besides Amazon.com Inc., is adding a gateway that will allow consumers to pay for products from Shopify online stores using a choice of digital or fiat currencies. The so-called hybrid service …
Read More »Eye on POS Credit: Klarna Nabs Macy’s, And Afterpay Clinches a Deal With Simon Property
Economic uncertainty stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic has stoked consumer interest in point-of-sale credit, and providers of the service are acting to satisfy that urge. The latest moves came Tuesday from payments processor Klarna AB and installment-credit provider Afterpay Ltd. Klarna said it will provide its installment-payment feature to Macy’s …
Read More »PayPal Adds QR Codes to a Visa-Branded Venmo Card Issued by Synchrony With an NFC Chip
PayPal Holdings Inc. on Monday launched a Visa-branded credit card for its Venmo peer-to-peer payment service that features a QR code for P2P transfers in addition to a near-field communication chip for merchant acceptance. The new product arrives as PayPal searches for ways to boost revenue for its wildly popular …
Read More »Parking Finds a Place in the Dashboard As Lear’s Xevo Unit Teams With Garage King Reef
Few payments technologies have gained headwinds from Covid fears as much as contactless parking, and now drivers have an option to locate, reserve, and pay for a space from their in-car touchscreen. Xevo Inc., a developer of connected-car technology, announced Thursday it is enabling the parking feature with Reef Technology, …
Read More »Square Promotes QR Codes for Eateries As the Contactless Technology Gains a U.S. Payments Footing
Square Inc.’s announcement Tuesday of its new QR code service for restaurants helps bring the contactless technology into the limelight, but it’s only the latest in a string of moves payments providers have made in recent months to position the barcode as a payments enabler. In Square’s scenario, eateries that …
Read More »After Months of Preparation, Amazon Launches Its Palm-Payment Technology
Amazon.com Inc.’s venture in letting consumers pay with the palm of their hand officially launched Tuesday at two Amazon Go stores. But the retailing giant’s latest payment technology could face an uncertain future even as stores struggle with how to introduce contactless methods in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. …
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