Acquiring

Sobering data from Shift4 Payments LLC shows that U.S. hospitality-industry transaction volume plummeted in mid-March as consumers sheltered in place and travel, both business and personal, waned. Restaurant volume fell from 42 million transactions to 11 million, a 74% decrease for the period from the week of February 2 to …

Lightspeed POS Inc. said it is offering its Delivery, eCommerce, and Loyalty services free for the next three months because of the Covid-19 impact on merchants.Online fraud-prevention provider Signifyd released its Covid-19 Business Continuity Package that offers new clients free access to some Signifyd products.Payments provider Fattmerchant said it is now an official gateway partner …

A national survey of 850 small businesses found 69% have seen a “large drop” in demand because of the coronavirus pandemic, while 60% say they believe demand will drop further. The survey was conducted by America’s Small Business Development Centers and Thryv Inc., a software vendor specializing in small businesses.The U.S. Faster Payments …

Merchant processor and business-software provider Square Inc. says some of its sellers have seen declines of 45% in payment volume in recent days, and private-label and cobranded card issuer Alliance Data Systems Corp. says business at its client merchants is softening.  Both companies held conference calls with analysts after the …

With much of the world locked down in combatting the novel coronavirus pandemic, a financial trade group in the United Kingdom said Tuesday the country would increase the spending limit on contactless transactions by 50% effective April 1. The move will allow consumers to pay without touching a keypad or …

With 78% of e-commerce transactions in 2019 coming from mobile devices, retailers have good reason to invest in their mobile-shopping experiences. Doing so, however, is not without risk, says credit-reporting agency TransUnion in its Global E-Commerce in 2020 report released Tuesday. The report is based on approximately 10 billion transactions …

E-commerce payments provider BlueSnap Inc. said it is enhancing its Payments for Marketplaces product, which allows online merchants to launch and operate global e-commerce marketplaces. New services include auto-onboarding, split payments, and cross-border payment capabilities.Square Inc. will have an investor conference call at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday to discuss how it is …

Cash is fighting an uphill battle to remain a payment option during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Over the past week, a number of toll-highway and bridge authorities have ceased accepting cash to limit the spread of the highly infectious disease. According to local press reports, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Illinois …

PayPal Holdings Inc. and Square Inc. are moving to increase hiring as consumers reportedly shift to mobile payments as a result of calls for social distancing.Arguing that “the [coronavirus] pandemic will pass, but the economic impact will last,” a collation of payroll processors and trade associations issued an open letter to President Donald …

With students not in school, the closure of restaurants and bars, and work-from-home edicts in place, consumer spending is shifting. Witness that in the week of March 9-15, the payment volume made with dipped EMV cards fell 5.17% from the week prior and mag-stripe volume fell 13.07%, according to the …