Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Jim Daly Merchant processor Square Inc. priced its initial public offering of stock late Wednesday at $9 per share, about 25% lower than it had hoped for, but positive investor sentiment lifted the stock Thursday morning in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Square …
Read More »Following Skrill Acquisition, Optimal Payments Changes Its Name to Paysafe
Merchant processor Optimal Payments Plc announced it has changed its name to Paysafe Group Plc. The move reflects the company’s direction following the closing of its Skrill acquisition in August. The deal bolstered the company’s stake in digital wallets. “This was a major milestone for the company, and although we …
Read More »Square Will Soon Exit the Ranks of Unicorns, But Those Ranks Are Fast Expanding
Square Inc.’s official filing to go public means it will soon exit an exclusive club that’s becoming less exclusive by the month: the so-called unicorns, or privately held companies that are worth $1 billion or more. There are 143 such companies now, up from 123 in early August. Indeed, more …
Read More »Square Looks To Raise Up to $333 Million as IPO Gets Closer
Square Inc. on Friday set a price range for its planned initial public offering of stock in which the high end could generate about $333 million for the merchant processor. Square filed an amended registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission stating that it plans to sell 25.65 million …
Read More »Visa And MasterCard Remain Top Dogs in Global Acceptance, But China Is Rising Fast
Just as Visa Inc. prepares to swallow up the 38-country Visa Europe system, at least one market researcher has released a report expressing some doubt about how long Visa and its bank card rival, MasterCard Inc., will be able to maintain their share of card-accepting merchants around the world. On …
Read More »The Bank Card Networks Dole Out Billions in Incentives To Build Traffic
Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. are shelling out ever more dollars to buy issuer loyalty and induce merchants to route transactions onto their networks. A Digital Transactions News analysis shows the two leading payment card networks are on track to spend approximately $6.75 billon on so-called rebates and incentives in …
Read More »Visa Inc. Will Buy Visa Europe, But Can It Get From Europe What It Earns in the U.S.?
Ending months of speculation, Visa Inc. on Monday announced it will buy its European counterpart, London-based Visa Europe Ltd., in a cash, stock, and earn-out deal valued at $23.4 billion. “We’re delighted to be reuniting the Visa family,” said Visa Inc. chief executive Charles W. Scharf in discussing the acquisition …
Read More »Time, Money and Convenience Play Critical Roles in Mobile-Payments Adoption
If consumer adoption of mobile payments is going to break past its current low rate, purveyors of the services will have to find new ways of making m-payments faster and more convenient to use, and attractive for merchants to accept. That’s the assessment from Derek Francom, director of PayPal …
Read More »Pennsylvania Money-Transmitter Advisory for ISOs, Processors and Banks Sparks Concerns
A recent Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities’ advisory about potentially requiring independent sales organizations and processors to obtain money-transmitter licenses could pose problems for the payments industry. “It’s the wrong execution of the right idea,” Scott Talbott, senior vice president for government affairs at the Electronic Transactions Association, …
Read More »Mobile Payments Poised for Big Growth, but Apple Pay Not Busting the Charts Yet
The latest forecast for mobile payments at the point of sale echoes what many other studies have said, which is that current volume is minuscule. But a convergence of forces, including mobile wallets coming preloaded with more and more smart phones and more point-of-sale terminals being able to accept new …
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