Competitive Strategies

More Americans are being asked to tip, but it doesn’t seem to have much positive impact for some workers, especially those employed by restaurants. Only 29% of these workers say their tips have increased in the past year, according to the “Beyond Gratuity: Perspective of Restaurant Staff Tipping Practices” report …

Text-to-pay technology received a boost late Thursday as San Francisco-based fintech EarnUp Inc. launched a text-to-pay app for mortgage lenders. The white-label app allows lenders to send text reminders of upcoming mortgage payments with an embedded link to make payments using a debit card. Consumers can initiate payment using Apple …

Payments processors haven’t had it easy in recent years, what with a pandemic-led shift to e-commerce on the part of brick-and-mortar merchants, a deluge of new and more complicated point-of-sale technologies, and growth by industry giants like Fiserv Inc. and Global Payments Inc. But many of the midsize players grew, …

Mastercard Inc. has started processing card payments domestically in China, working with its partner NetsUnion Clearing Corp. (NUCC), China’s nationwide processing platform. Gift card and loyalty provider Factor4 completed an integration with commerce services provider Shopify Inc. that enables Shopify customers to sell and accept physical and digital gift cards in store and …

After months of speculation that Shift Payments Inc. was an acquisition target, company founder and chief executive and founder Jared Isaacman confirmed Thursday the company had indeed received multiple offers. The acknowledgment came at the outset of Shift4’s first quarter earnings call early Thursday. Despite the offers being “materially higher” …

Open banking has been attracting the attention of bankers, merchants, and card networks. It’s also drawing notice from regulators. The concept of making a payment through a direct transfer from a bank account can appeal to consumers because it’s fast and easy, and to merchants because the transaction is reportedly …

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. announced it is supplying payments capability for the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association in South Carolina, which includes more than 70 golf courses. The Western Union Co. resumed service between the United States and Cuba after technical issues in January disrupted it. Payments provider Priority Technology Holdings Inc. reported $205.7 million …

Processors and service providers focused on restaurant point-of-sale systems are enjoying strong growth as restaurants remain one of the hottest markets in digital payments. Two companies reaping the fruits that growth are Toast Inc. and Olo Inc. Toast Inc. posted annual recurring revenue of $1.3 billion during the first quarter …

The U.S. payments industry has celebrated the emergence in recent years of two major platforms for real-time payments, but what has insiders particularly excited is the potential for something called the request for payment, or the RFP, as they style it. “The RFP is the first real shift in how …

Point-of-sale terminal company Pax Technology Inc. launched Vendall, a payments system for vending machines, minimarkets, and other unattended markets. Nacha, the automated clearing house governing body, noted the 50th anniversary of its formation, noting there were 31.5 billion ACH network payments made in 2023 valued at $80.1 trillion. In related news, Phixius, a …