Wednesday , January 15, 2025

John Stewart

Starting as an editor on Bank Network News at Faulkner & Gray, John ultimately played a key role in starting, editing, and publishing many of F&G's flagship publications, including Credit Card Management, Card Technology, Card Marketing, and Collections & Credit Risk. Before co-founding Boland Hill Media, John was a group publisher at Thomson Media responsible for a $10 million division embracing magazines, newsletters, and Web sites.

Shelter-in-Place Policies Give eBay a Lift As Its Managed-Payments Platform Expands

E-commerce sites have been beneficiaries of shelter-at-home policies, and on Wednesday eBay Inc. indicated its marketplace has been no exception. But growth was tempered by a downdraft in classified listings and a widening trend toward state Internet sales taxes, the company said. Meanwhile, eBay’s venture into running payments for sellers …

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Amid Covid-19, a Mobile App Emerges for Remote Check-in And Payments at Clinics

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been much talk about managing exposure in stores and other public places with technology such as contactless payments. But now a company has launched mobile technology to help protect patients as well as caregivers from infection at the doctor’s office. The …

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As Online Usage Surges, Watch Out for an Even Bigger Jump in Fraud, Experts Warn

Payments fraud was already rising, and now experts predict increased online usage brought on by stay-at-home orders will only exacerbate the trend. While losses haven’t shown up yet, e-commerce activity taking place now is sowing the seeds of a dramatic jump in coming months. “Fraud is always a trailing activity,” …

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A Plunge in T&E Spending Hits AmEx As It Copes With the Pandemic’s Worldwide Impact

A trend toward a near-total collapse in travel-and-entertainment spending helped drive down overall first-quarter card volume and discount revenue for American Express Co., the company reported Friday. “March was a very difficult month,” Stephen Squeri, AmEx’s chairman and chief executive, told stock analysts during a morning conference call. As with …

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Prepaid Specialist Blackhawk Rolls Out Digital Rewards And Gets Set to Launch a Donation Site

With consumers contending with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, rewards offered by the card networks could take on added importance. Blackhawk Network is counting on that, and has introduced a capability for mobile-phone users to add digital rewards to their Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay wallets. Working …

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Synchrony Sounds Notes of Cautious Optimism As the Pandemic Takes Its Toll

The nation’s largest issuer of store cards sounded a note of optimism Tuesday as the Covid-19 crisis continued to ravage consumer spending. “Believe it or not, there are deals in the pipeline [with merchants],” said Margaret Keane, chief executive of Synchrony Financial. “We’re not sitting back. We’re highly engaged.” Keane …

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Yiftee Adds Facebook And Instagram Promotion to Support Digital Gift Cards for Local Merchants

Among payment devices, gift cards are unique in that they can promote a business as well as enable payments at the store or online. That’s an edge at a time of a pandemic, and now technology platforms that support digital gift cards are leveraging that advantage. Yiftee Inc. late on …

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The Libra Association Modifies Its Basic Plan in Response to Regulatory Concerns

Under pressure for months from governments and regulators worldwide, the Libra cryptocurrency venture has applied for a key payments-system license and changed course on a number of its prime strategies, including setting out new plans for single-currency stablecoins and a stronger compliance regime. FINMA, the Swiss financial regulator, confirmed Thursday …

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BofA Reports Booming Zelle Numbers as America Copes With Stay-at-Home Policies

If the first quarter of the year is any indication, person-to-person payments might be getting a big lift as stay-at-home consumers look for safe ways to pay in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak. Bank of America Corp. reported Wednesday transactions on its Zelle platform shot up 76% compared to …

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Eye on Online Ordering: Smaller Tech Players Aim at Smaller Eateries Impacted by Covid-19

With restaurants in most major markets across the country forced to shut down on-premise dining because of the Covid-19 outbreak, online ordering, takeout, and delivery services are suddenly in the spotlight as local restaurants and other small, independent establishments grasp at technology to stay alive. That’s an immediate opportunity for …

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