Paysafe Group on Thursday capped a recent restructuring of its payment-processing unit with the appointment of a chief executive for the unit’s U.S. acquiring division. Afshin Yazdian on July 1 will take over the division, one of two businesses formed with the splitting of the company’s payment-processing unit. Paysafe also …
Read More »Shift4 Launches QR Pay as an Alternative to Contactless Payments Via NFC
Payments companies have been working for months against a backdrop of consumer fears induced by the new coronavirus, and on Wednesday Shift4 Payments Inc. launched a contactless-payment capability with a twist: it relies on Quick Response codes rather than the much more common near-field communication technology found in major-brand credit …
Read More »With an $825-Million Deal for Finicity, Mastercard Picks up Open-Banking Tech for POS Credit
Mastercard Inc.’s $825-million deal for Finicity Corp., announced Tuesday, may be aimed at ensuring a strong position in burgeoning markets like point-of-sale credit, but it could also prove handy as consumers struggle with the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, observers say. The acquisition, which Mastercard says should close by …
Read More »Rewards Tailored for Quarantined Cardholders Are Keeping Travel-Related Cards Aloft
Merchants that cobrand rewards cards to build business are often connected one way or another to the travel industry, but they may not have much to worry about even though the Covid-19 pandemic has kept consumers close to home. Twenty-three percent of these cardholders think they’re getting more value from …
Read More »With a Loss Before Britain’s High Court, Visa And Mastercard Face an Interchange Reckoning
Merchants in the United Kingdom won an important battle against interchange fees on Wednesday but it remains uncertain just how much that will mean to them in terms of remuneration from Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. The case also could have ramifications for similar action in the U.S. market, some …
Read More »BitPay Launches a Prepaid Mastercard to Bring Spending Utility to Bitcoin And Other Cryptos
Bitcoin may be the most popular cryptocurrency, but acceptance of any digital currency is limited to just a few thousand merchants. Crypto processor BitPay Inc. on Thursday introduced a solution with a service that lets users spend their holdings via a prepaid Mastercard that features an EMV chip and contactless capability. …
Read More »Eye on Reopening: Tech Startups Hope To Meet an Overarching Need for Contactless Payments
As businesses reopen in the United States and abroad, many are looking to modernize their payments flows to minimize cash and maximize touch-free digital payments. Tech startups are stepping up in hopes of meeting the need. Late on Tuesday, a 5-year-old startup called Squire Technologies Inc. announced it had raised …
Read More »Store Failures Will Spike as Merchants Wrestle With Covid-19’s Wreckage, a Researcher Predicts
Despite tentative signs of an economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced depression, some experts are forecasting a gloomy outlook for store closures as the year plays out and merchants struggle with debt loads and a consumer shift to e-commerce. At least 20,000, and as many as 25,000, stores will likely shut …
Read More »Varo Money Closes a $241 Million Round as It Closes in on a National Banking Charter
Varo Money Inc., a 5-year-old mobile-banking and payments startup that’s closing in on a national banking charter, raised $241 million in a Series D round that closed Tuesday. The round, co-led by Gallatin Point Capital and The Rise Fund, will help the San Francisco-based Varo expand its financial-product offerings and …
Read More »Worldpay Enlists Forter to Arm for a Potential Surge in Online Crypto Trading Fraud
Online trading of cryptocurrencies has become a hot market, and the recent online activity driven by Covid-19 fears has only added fuel to that trend. In response, the big merchant processor Worldpay, along with Forter Inc., a provider of fraud-prevention technology, on Wednesday introduced a service that will cover crypto …
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