Prepaid card spending is on the rise, according to Fiserv Inc.’s annual Prepaid Consumer Insights Study. Some 69% of consumers surveyed say they purchased the same number of gift cards, or more, in 2023 compared to 2022. In addition, 40% of  buyers are putting at least $50 on gift cards, …

While digital wallets have established a beachhead in the payment ecosystem, consumers still aren’t embracing the apps with gusto. The primary reasons are concerns over security and the lack of value-added features, such as rewards and loyalty programs and spend-management capabilities, says Justin Passalaqua, managing director of North America for …

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. has partnered with golf-course management company GreatLIFE Golf & Fitness to provide point-of-sale technology for GreatLIFE’s GolfBack direct-booking engine. Lightspeed will begin deploying its POS technology at 14 golf courses operated by GreatLIFE in the Kansas City, Mo.-area, with plans to expand the technology to additional GreatLIFE-operated …

FedNow, the real-time payments network operated by the Federal Reserve, announced late Tuesday it has 400 financial institutions participating as senders or receivers after six months of operation. The much-anticipated Fed service launched last July with 35 participating financial institutions. Participating institutions range in size from less than $500 million …

Payments-platform provider Payroc LLC has launched PayByCloud, low-code, semi-integrated technology for independent software vendors that establishes a cloud-based connection between Payroc’s application hosted on a payment device and the Payroc gateway.  PayByCloud is intended to eliminate the friction of connecting software to payment devices in the cloud, without the need …

MagicCube Inc. has partnered with processor Shift4 Payments Inc. to make its iAccept softPOS application available to Shift4 merchants. MagicCube’s i-Accept app turns Android smart phones and tablets into PCI-compliant payment devices that can accept contactless payments using tap-to-pay with or without a PIN. The deal is considered a boost …

Despite its formidable reach, the social-media platform X faces a steep climb to achieve its goal of launching a peer-to-peer payments service, according to payments experts. X, formerly known as Twitter, announced in a blog post earlier this week its plans to add P2P payments to its platform this year …

The battle between merchants, on one hand, and financial institutions and payment networks, on the other, over the Credit Card Competition Act continues to heat up. The Merchants Payments Coalition on Thursday sent a letter to Congress signed by nearly 2,000 merchants, including hundreds of small businesses, calling on legislators …

Affirm Holdings Inc. has extended its reach into the vacation-property rental market through a partnership with Evolve Vacation Rental. Consumers renting vacation properties through Evolve can use Affirm as a payment option for bookings exceeding $500. Consumers pay in monthly installments and as little as 0% interest. Evolve says it …

The Electronic Payments Coalition has come out swinging in the new year as it intensifies its fight against the Credit Card Competition Act. The EPC, which lobbies on behalf of financial institutions and payments networks, late Monday announced it is launching an ad campaign aimed at federal lawmakers. The campaign …