Competitive Strategies

Merchants in the United Kingdom won an important battle against interchange fees on Wednesday but it remains uncertain just how much that will mean to them in terms of remuneration from Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. The case also could have ramifications for similar action in the U.S. market, some …

Store card provider Synchrony Financial on Wednesday launched a program that offers small businesses grants through community organizations and includes access to digital payment tools and consulting services. The initiative comes as many small businesses struggle with the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic as well as closures and damage …

Mastercard Inc. announced Amazon.com Inc. will start using tokens to replace actual customer card data throughout 2020. Tokenization replaces actual card data with data strings that are meaningless to outside parties. The process also permits automatic credential updating when cards expire.Payments card standards body EMVCo made it official—consumer-facing online-payment checkout options based on …

In the wake of Covid-19, merchants continue to see more features added to cloud-based point-of-sale systems. In the latest updates, Lightspeed POS Inc. introduced on Tuesday new e-commerce services, including shipping, curbside pick-up, and appointment setting. And Revel Systems Inc. has refined its online ordering and order-pickup management. First up, …

Merchant processor Square Inc. said that as of June 10 its Square Capital service had facilitated more than $820 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans to 76,000 small businesses since April 29. PPP loans are part of the federal government’s stimulus program to combat the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.In …

Merchant processor Net Element Inc. has a letter of intent to merge with Mullen Technologies Inc., a privately held startup that plans to sell Chinese-made electric sports cars in the U.S. The pending deal, announced Monday, requires Net Element to divest its payment-processing business. The so-called “reverse triangular merger” is …

Volume in some of its foreign markets is still way down as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, but leading non-bank ATM network operator Cardtronics plc reported Monday that same-store U.S. cash-withdrawal transaction volumes were off only 3% in the first half of June from a year earlier.  PSCU, a …

American Express Co. has become the first foreign payments company to be approved to clear domestic transactions in mainland China. The move comes with approval of a network clearing license over the weekend from the People’s Bank of China for Express Technology Services Co. Ltd., an AmEx joint venture with …

Paysafe Group said it has expanded its Knect loyalty program for its Skrill digital wallet to the U.S. market. The program offers points that can be redeemed for cash when users perform transactions using the digital wallet or a linked Skrill Visa prepaid card. Last week, Paysafe launched its Skrill Money Transfer service …

Restaurants using Panasonic Corp. of North America’s kiosk systems will have a new option for their consumers to order and pay, while limiting their contact, with the integration of facial recognition and payment technology from PopID Inc. Announced Thursday, the integration with the Panasonic ClearConnect Kiosk app means Panasonic and …