Competitive Strategies

Jifiti, a provider of embedded-financing solutions, is giving a new twist to the buy now, pay later trend with the introduction of Tap Now, Pay Later, a financing tool for large-ticket purchases. Examples include home-remodeling projects, in which funds are loaded into a consumer’s digital wallet via a virtual credit …

U.S. Bancorp generated $454 million in merchant processing services revenue in the second quarter, up 4.1% from $436 million in the year-ago quarter. Private-label card specialist Synchrony Financial posted $3.7 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 12.1% from $3.3 billion in the 2023 second quarter. Net income of $643 million increased 13% from $569 …

Buy now, pay later provider Sezzle Inc. has added Spanish-language capability to its app. The addition is expected to broaden Sezzle’s appeal among Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States. There are more than 40 million Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States, according to Sezzle, while Spanish-speaking customers represent about 22% …

Merchants selling weapons like knives and collectible swords often have difficulty peddling them online, but Blue Payment Agency Inc. has launched a service to help do that while getting access to Shopify Inc.’s e-commerce platform. Announced Tuesday, the service from Windham, Maine-based Blue Payment Agency enables knife-selling Shopify merchants to …

The Electronic Payments Coalition’s attack this week against the Credit Card Competition Act calls out retailers Target Corp. and Walmart as greedy mega-corporate stores that stand to profit at the expense of consumers should the legislation pass. The aggressive tone of the EPC’s “high six-figure” campaign, unleashed this week, signals …

Point-of-sale technology company MagTek Inc. has lined up payments provider ExpiTrans as a reseller of its QwickPAY POS software. Meanwhile, Visa Inc. says its technology is ready for the start of the summer Olympics in Paris in two weeks. Seal Beach, Calif.-based MagTek says ExpiTrans will market its software to …

FundKite, a fintech that provides financing to small and medium-size businesses, has broadened its services with the launch of a payment-processing division. The move will enable FundKite to expand its services beyond offering capital to merchants by providing them with a one-stop processing and financing shop, the company says. In …

Under pressure from the European Commission, Apple Inc. agreed Thursday to open the contactless-payment technology in its iPhone for payments on wallets from outside developers. The agreement follows two years of investigation by the regulator, which has argued the exclusion of rival wallets from using the iPhone’s near-field communication chip …

A survey from credit-reporting agency TransUnion indicates 89% of U.S. consumers who have used buy now, pay later programs are satisfied or very satisfied with the service. The survey canvassed 1,200 consumers in the second quarter. Some 53% of non-users indicated they’d be likely or very likely to use BNPL if the …

U.S. servicemembers who use the Military Star credit card will see a change in September as the closed-loop network it uses migrates to the Discover Global Network. The Exchange Credit Program issues the Military Star card, which is administered by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, and has approximately …