Competitive Strategies

Fit Pay Inc. announced on Friday it will begin shipping its Bitcoin-based contactless device, Flip, on Feb. 13. The coin-shaped token sells to consumers for $29 and allows them to convert their Bitcoin holdings to U.S. dollars and then spend the money at stores equipped with contactless point-of-sale terminals. The …

Payment processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) on Thursday unveiled a line of point-of-sale terminals and services for small and mid-size businesses, and took its Vital brand out of a 13-year retirement as the name for the new product suite. The cloud-based Vital POS has three major components: Vital Mobile, an …

Square Inc. released a software development kit to enable merchants and developers to use Square for their payments processing in apps. Announced Wednesday, the SDK marks a first for Square and creates a single platform for transactions made by Square merchants that also sell in stores. The SDK is available …

  Will Graylin, a payments entrepreneur and former Samsung Pay executive, launched OV Loop, which includes two voice-activated messaging products, OV App and OV Pro. OV App includes OV Pay, a single-tap payment application under development with financial institutions. Online merchants that don’t process local currencies fail to consummate 6% …

CannaTrac, a cashless-payment service for the cannabis industry, released the CannaCard App, a mobile-payment service that enables users to upload funds from a checking account, debit card, or cash at select partner locations. A 95-cent fee applies to each funds loading. The app, available for Android and iOS devices, is …

When you look at the benefits that cryptocurrencies offer, it’s somewhat surprising that they aren’t an established method of payment yet. They are cheaper than other payment methods, they allow fast global money transfer, and they provide built-in security and encryption. However, cryptocurrencies haven’t really taken off and are more …

Merchant plaintiffs and the state of New York filed motions Tuesday in a federal appellate court to dismiss the merchants’ challenge to New York’s law banning credit card surcharges. As a result, surcharges will be allowed when the merchant posts total prices for credit card purchases in dollars and cents. …

The new year is only a week old, but it’s already looking to be a strong one for dashboard payments. On Monday, Visa Inc. and SiriusXM Connected Vehicles Services Inc. said they plan to offer the SiriusXM e-wallet to auto manufacturers that deploy SiriusXM’s connected-vehicle services.  The Visa-SiriusXM announcement followed …

Paya Inc. said on Tuesday is has acquired First Billing Services, a Dayton, Ohio-based billing processor for municipalities, utilities, and multifamily housing units. The $57.5 million deal, which Paya chief executive Jeff Hack says was consummated minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve, represents the Reston, Va.-based payments provider’s second …

Phillips 66 Co., which has long been a leading player among petroleum companies in digital payments, has taken a step into in-car commerce in a tie-up with Honda Motor Co. Inc. that will allow customers to find the nearest station, claim a pump, and pay for gas from the infotainment …