Competitive Strategies

The Small Business Index from the big processor Fiserv Inc. stood at 141 in August, with no change from July. Year-over-year, small-business sales were up 1.6%, while total transactions grew 5.7%, according to the Index. The research is based on in-store and online transaction data from roughly 2 million U.S. small businesses, …

High card-acceptance fees are the root cause for why some merchants are charging consumers for cash back at the point-of-sale, a service merchants have historically provided consumers even though customers can make purchases with their debit cards at no charge, says the Merchants Payment Coalition. Driving the trend is that …

PayPal Holdings Inc. has expanded its relationship with the big processor Fiserv Inc. to make its payment options more readily available to Fiserv clients in the United States. The move with Fiserv is expected to simplify connectivity for Fiserv clients to PayPal and Venmo payment apps and make it easier …

Affirm Inc.’s shares soared early Thursday as the buy now, pay later platform reported revenue and profit results late Wednesday that topped analyst expectations and may indicate the online and point-of-sale lending trend, which emerged with force during the pandemic, retains plenty of momentum. The positive results also followed Affirm’s …

Apple Inc. is reportedly mulling a return to the buy now, pay later sweepstakes in the United States through a partnership with Zip Co. Ltd, an Australian digital financial-services company. ZIP’s chief executive, Cynthia Scott, acknowledged the two companies are in talks, according to MacDailyNews. Apple abandoned BNPL operations in June …

Paze, the online checkout service from Early Warning Services LLC, says consumers that belong to the Sephora loyalty program can now use it to pay for transactions on the retailer’s Web site. Backed by some of the nation’s largest banks, Paze is an expedited checkout service that includes addresses and …

Cantaloupe Inc. has strengthened its hand in the highly competitive market for payments at sports and entertainment venues with the launch of Suites, an order-management application designed for such venues, on Cantaloupe’s Cheq platform. Cantaloupe developed the new app as a way to make it easier for guests in stadium …

Payments provider Fortis Payment Systems announced new features developed in partnership with accounting-software developer Sage and aimed at simplifying payment processes and streamlining back-office functions. Payments provider PayJunction said it has added text-to-pay capability, allowing businesses to accept customer payments through text messages. Meal Ticket, a developer of technology for food-service companies, has launched …

Shift4 Payments Inc. announced Monday it has agreed to acquire Givex Corp., a provider of gift card, e-gift card, loyalty, and POS solutions in an all-cash transaction valued at $200 million Canadian, or $148 million U.S. The acquisition of Toronto-based Givex, which services the restaurant and retail industries, will add …

TrustCommerce says the first client to use its Cloud Payments integration with Epic Systems Corp.’s health-care software for card-present payments is now live. Chicago-based TrustCommerce says The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is the first to use its Cloud Payments integration. Cloud Payments uses Android-based point-of-sale devices from PAX …