Competitive Strategies

Cayan’s new Genius Mini card reader may look like any number of headphone-jack or Bluetooth devices meant to connect to a smart phone or tablet to enable payment card acceptance. That’s because it’s the software the Genius Mini uses that distinguishes it from similar devices. The device is designed to …

Recruiting massive processor First Data Corp. and existing partner PayPal Holdings Inc., the Google unit of Alphabet Inc. on Wednesday announced critical extensions of its Android Pay mobile-payment service into both physical and online commerce. In an arrangement that will become available to merchants and developers later in 2017, Atlanta-based …

Two powerhouse independent sales organizations are joining together. North American Bancard Holdings LLC is buying Total Merchant Services Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Woodland Hills, Calif.-based TMS processes more than $12 billion in annual transactions, which when added to NAB will result in more than $50 billion in annual processing …

• Processor First Data Corp. unveiled its First Data Global PFAC service for payment facilitators, which includes a single integration interface that enables merchants to authorize, settle, and fund transactions in more than 40 countries and 17 currencies. • Payment processor Clearent LLC is offering Visa Inc.’s Quick Chip technology to software vendors as …

Square Inc. outlined its growth plans with an emphasis on selling new services and expanding internationally during its first investor day on Tuesday. In its presentation, Square said it wants to improve the efficiency of acquiring merchants, which it calls sellers; move its services up market to larger merchants; grow …

• An increasing number of small-business owners have a positive outlook on the economy and on their own prospects, according to a survey from American Express Co. Some 72% of respondents expressed this optimism with respect to the next six months, up from 64% last year and 67% in 2015, according to …

Remember the Pokémon GO craze? The game was a megahit because it cleverly combined the physical and digital worlds. It added an augmented contextual layer so players could use smart-phone map and camera functions to interact with characters, other players, and game elements. What if a similar augmentation toolkit were available …

• Mobile-payments provider LevelUp said it has closed a $50 million funding round with participation by existing investor JPMorgan Chase & Co. as well as US Boston and CentroCredit Bank. LevelUp, which says its user count is nearly 1 million, is the subject of a lawsuit by competitor CardFree Inc. alleging LevelUp fraudulently …

Shareholders of MoneyGram International Inc. voted overwhelmingly in favor of Ant Financial Services Group’s planned $1.2 billion acquisition of their company, Dallas-based MoneyGram announced Tuesday. A preliminary tally shows 97% of the shares voted were in favor of the deal and represented more than 82% of all outstanding shares, MoneyGram …

When it comes to establishing merchant acceptance in North America, Alipay’s ambitions go well beyond niche markets. In fact, “When we’re looking at partners, we’re looking for ubiquity,” Souheil Badran, president of Alipay North America, tells Digital Transactions News in a wide-ranging interview. Those partners so far include First Data …