Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
• An increasing number of small-business owners have a positive outlook on the economy and on their own prospects, according to a survey from American Express Co. Some 72% of respondents expressed this optimism with respect to the next six months, up from 64% last year and 67% in 2015, according to AmEx’s OPEN Small Business Monitor, which surveyed 700 businesses with fewer than 100 employees.
• In contrasting news, some 41% of businesses report cash-flow difficulties and 16% have been the victim of payment fraud in the past year, according to a survey released by WePay, a provider of managed payments for online platforms. Some 8% of businesses report 10 or more instances of payment fraud. The online survey, conducted in April, included 505 online interviews.
• Louisville, Ky.-based Payment Alliance International, which says it is the nation’s largest privately-held ATM provider, is moving to a new 30,000-square-foot headquarters in the city.
• The Heartland Commerce unit of merchant processor Global Payments Inc. launched Xenial, a cloud-based management platform for restaurants.
• Mastercard Inc. said U.S. Bank is now supporting Masterpass for its customers. The digital wallet allows users to make purchases in-store, online, and in-app.
• Chirpify, whose technology lets consumers make payments and otherwise interact with brands via social media and other venues, announced an integration that allows users to earn rewards via a link between their social-media accounts and a merchant or service provider.
• Salesforce, a vendor of cloud-based customer-relationship management tools, announced it has integrated Alphabet Inc.’s Android Pay mobile-payments service into its Commerce Cloud Einstein multichannel shopping platform for retailers. Android Pay will be available as part of the platform at no additional cost beginning in August.
• PSCU named Chris Gunnare as chief member experience officer; Gunnare comes to the credit-union service organization after more than 24 years with TMG, a payments processor.
