Competitive Strategies

Unlike Visa and Mastercard, Plaid is not just another credit and debit card company largely beholden to the big banks. It uses modern technology, in a sector that has been slow to adopt it, to create a new payments paradigm. It likely has no plans to issue cards or use …

With digital and physical commerce melding, Fiserv Inc. intends to position its Carat platform as the engine to enable providers such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit and merchants to process transactions across both channels. Fiserv took a big step in that direction last week when it announced it will enable …

Finally! No doubt, merchants throughout the country are applauding the Justice Department’s suit against Visa to stop its planned acquisition of Plaid, a potential competitor. For far too long, we’ve witnessed the growth of Visa’s dominance of the debit card business, which has come at a huge cost to America’s …

Some 81% of U.S. consumers have used a one-click payment method while shopping online, with 37% using the method “frequently,” according to a survey earlier this month of 961 consumers by The Strawhecker Group and the Electronic Transactions Association.Switched dollar volume and switched transaction volume for Mastercard Inc. in the week ending Nov. 21 were both …

The future of digital payments is being created now with the adoption of contactless payments, new digital transactions such as buy online, pick up in store, and reduced friction within the payments ecosystem. That’s the assessment in the “Future-Proof Payments: From the EMV Chip to a Fully Digital Future” report …

The pandemic has forced the world—individuals and businesses alike—to reassess their approaches toward life and reevaluate daily processes. The same goes for convenience stores with a particular focus on solution-driven innovation and adaptation. They must evolve their businesses with modern technologies, such as contactless payment processing, pre-store visit staging, and …

Payment Alliance International Inc. said its fleet of more than 95,000 ATMs will redeem Bitcoin for cash under an agreement with B4U Financial LLC, whose BitLoad4U technology will manage authorization, clearing, and settlement and allow redemption from any cryptocurrency mobile wallet.A Bitcoin variant called Bitcoin Latinum announced a pre-sale launch with availability on exchanges in …

The Western Union Co.’s  real-time digital payout service for sending money real-time to bank accounts, digital wallets, and cards, is now available in 100 countries. The service, which was announced in September 2019 at Western Union’s investor day conference, leverages Western Union’s more than 40 banking and payment partnerships covering more than …

Independent ATM operators are lauding a proposed rulemaking from the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency they say would correct a history of denial of access to banking services for entrepreneurs that install and operate ATMs in retail stores and other locations. Observers say the rulemaking, if adopted, …

Visa Inc. has formed a partnership with virtual-payments technology provider Conferma Pay to launch Visa Commercial Pay, a venture in virtual commercial cards. Available globally, the suite will be available from Visa’s financial institution clients. Visa and Conferma Pay have a long-standing relationship. “Consumerization of [business-to-business] payments has significantly accelerated during …