With three processor megamergers having closed in 2019, the value of firms involved in handling and managing electronic payments has seldom been clearer. But further evidence emerged this week with news of Stripe Inc.’s latest funding round, which valued the San Francisco-based payments-technology company at fully $35 billion. Indeed, at …
Read More »UnionPay International’s Merchant Growth and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/20/19
The China-based payments network UnionPay International said it now links to more than 28 million merchants outside China, with 2 million having been added in the first half of 2019. The company also said 80% of U.S. merchants now accept UnionPay credit cards.Visa Inc. said its B2B Connect network now processes cross-border corporate …
Read More »Reliable, Recurring Revenue Fuels Investor Interest in Payments
With the closing of three megamergers this year, one might think investment opportunities in payments and acquiring could shrink. But that would be an error. That was the assessment of investment professionals speaking Thursday at the Western States Acquirers Association annual conference in Rancho Mirage, Calif. “It’s a massive industry. …
Read More »The PCI Council Plans More Rule Flexibility As It Eyes a Major Revision of Its Flagship Standard
Recognizing there is no one-one-size-fits-all approach to data security, the PCI Security Standards Council continues to evolve its requirements toward a goal of greater flexibility for payments providers. The new approach comes as the Council contemplates a new version of its core security standard. Gathering in Vancouver, B.C., this week …
Read More »Real-Time Payments Catch on and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/19/19
A survey by processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) found that 54 countries now have active real-time payment programs, up from 40 in 2018 and nearly four times as many as 2014.Cross River Bank, which specializes in services for technology companies, has applied to link to The Clearing House Payments Co.’s Real Time …
Read More »Global Payments Completes TSYS Merger and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/18/19
Global Payments Inc. completed its $21.5 billion all-stock merger with payment processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS). The deal cleared its last major hurdle when European Union antitrust regulators said they had no competition concerns, Reuters reported Tuesday. The merged company serves 3.5 million merchant locations and 1,300 financial institutions in more than 100 …
Read More »PayPal Reduces Its Promotional Financing Threshold To Boost Its Credit Service
The warmth of late summer still bathes much of the country, but PayPal Holdings Inc. already has its eyes on the upcoming holiday spending season. The online commerce leader today unveiled a zero-interest financing promotion for its PayPal Credit service with a lowered purchase threshold. In addition to charging no …
Read More »UPDATED: Shopify Targets Merchants in The Fast-Growing CBD Sector
CBD is all the rage these days as a newly available medicine that can alleviate everything from pain to insomnia, and now e-commerce platform provider Shopify Inc. is pitching its payment and other support services to U.S. CBD merchants. Ottawa, Ontario-based Shopify, which serves 800,000 merchants globally and has major …
Read More »Without a Digital Business Model, Banks May Lose $280 Billion in Payments Revenue
Digital payments, combined with competition from nonbanks in payments, may cost banks as much as 15% of their global payments revenue, or $280 billion, says Accenture in its “2019 Global Payments Survey.” Released Monday, the survey of 240 retail and corporate payments executives across multiple countries suggests that global-payments revenue …
Read More »Turnkey Risk Rebrands as Humaitrix and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/17/19
Turnkey Risk Solutions, a risk-management firm specializing in first-party fraud, rebranded as Humaitrix LLC. Payments veterans John J. Leehy III joined the company as chief executive and Gregory W. Sahrmann joined as the chief operating officer. Amy Walraven, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. risk executive, is founder, president, and chief …
Read More »