Paysafe Group has big ambitions for its Skrill financial products in the United States. Monday’s U.S. launch of the Skrill Money Transfer service is but the first step of a broader U.S. expansion for Skrill, says Lorenzo Pellegrino, a Paysafe executive. The free money-transfer service followed January’s debut of the …

Total U.S. retail sales, including auto and fuel, will drop 10.5%, to $4.894 trillion in 2020, a total not seen since 2016, forecasts eMarketer Inc. That’s sharper than the 8.2% slump in 2009, in the midst of that recession more than 10 years ago. E-commerce, however, is the bright spot. …

More evidence that consumers are finally adopting contactless payments emerged  as Cardknox, a payment gateway, noted a 150% increase in contactless payment use from just from November to April. Announced Thursday, the increase, albeit lacking volume details, indicates consumers’ mindfulness about reducing physical contact with point-of-sale terminals. Cardknox said some of …

Expectations that consumers will seek out live entertainment with some mindfulness about actually touching point-of-sale terminals is part of the reason for venue manager Spectra to strike a multiyear deal with parking specialist ParkHub Inc. Announced Wednesday, the deal will see ParkHub provide mobile point-of-sale technology that enables contactless payments. It …

Fully 25% of U.S. merchants that accept payment cards experienced a drop of 56% or more in card volume in April compared with February, finds a new study from The Strawhecker Group. After analyzing billions of transactions from more than 1 million card-accepting merchants across the United States, the Omaha, …

Debit card issuers have a new tool to spot potential false transaction declines with a new service from processor Fiserv Inc., and the authentication needs of mobile payments are driving, in part, the growth in fingerprint sensors. Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv says its new Authorization Lift service will help reduce the number …

All four card brands have now delayed for the second time their EMV liability shifts for automated fuel dispensers with Mastercard Inc.’s Monday announcement it would postpone its shift until April 16. The original shift was to have taken place in October 2017, but was deferred until October 2020. Along …

In the wake of 2019’s major merger-and-acquisition activity in the payments industry, the impact of Covid-19 is affecting the timing of deals, capital availability, and the due diligence process. That’s the assessment from panelists in the “M&A Trends in a Pandemic World” session at Transact Connect, the Electronic Transactions Association’s …

Payments providers and acquirers are having to quickly adjust to evolving risk practices as chargeback volume and return rates change during the nationwide Covid-19 containment. That’s important because the Federal Trade Commission, in particular, is using these two metrics as potential indicators of misdeeds, advised panelists Wednesday in the “Regulatory …

The Covid-19 impact continues to make itself known in the payments arena. Consumers are increasingly favoring debit cards, especially now that many have received $1,200 stimulus payments. And merchants using the Clover point-of-sale system now have access to online ordering on the platform. Consumers increased their debit card spending 6.6% …