Competitive Strategies

Online commerce gets a lot of attention these days, but just how much of the retail economy in North America does it account for? The answer is 7%, according to a report released Tuesday by Boston-based researcher Aite Group. That’s accounting for all e-commerce sales as well as browser-based and …

The Electronic Check Clearing House Organization (ECCHO), a leader in the movement to develop check image exchange, announced Monday that it is “exploring possible strategic opportunities.” The terms “exploring strategic opportunities” or “exploring strategic options” usually mean a company is up for sale. It is indeed possible that the ECCHO …

It’s a double whammy for VeriFone Systems Inc. On Monday, the San Jose, Calif.-based terminal maker said its sales for next year will be “tempered” by a decision by the major payment networks to postpone their deadline for fuel-pump EMV from Oct. 1, 2017 to Oct. 1, 2020. “We were disappointed and …

In the struggle to produce commercially viable alternatives to the password for user authentication, most industry attention lately has focused on fingerprint recognition. But on Monday another promising alternative took a step forward with an announcement from Delta ID Inc., a 5-year-old Newark, Calif.-based company, that its ActiveIRIS technology is behind …

USA Technologies Inc. (USAT), a provider of electronic payments for vending machines and other unattended locations, said Monday that it is working with Ten M. Corp. to upgrade 1,000 of Ten M’s vending machines with USAT’s ePort Connectcashless payment technology. In addition to cash, the ePort devices will enable the machines to …

Payments Canada, operator of three major payment systems in that country, issued a five-point plan Thursday to put Canada on a path toward faster and more efficient electronic payments. The plan has many similarities with efforts by Canada’s southern neighbor to modernize payments, but also some differences, according to a …

Tablet point-of-sale terminal seller Revel Systems on Thursday unveiled its Insights by Revel service and noted a 137% growth rate in terminals for 2016. Insights by Revel enables Revel merchant to monitor business activities as they happen. “Owners and managers can oversee labor remotely, and even detect who worked overtime, …

Nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults now carry a general-purpose credit card, and credit cards are gaining popularity with young adults, according to new consumer survey findings from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. The Maynard, Mass.-based research and consulting firm reported this week that 63% of U.S. consumers have a major-brand credit …

It may be called artificial intelligence, but the potential this technology opens up for payments and banking is turning out to be very real. Earlier this week, yet another major messaging platform agreed to support chatbots that would let its users transfer funds, check their bank balances, and perform other …

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) has launched what it calls a network of early-stage financial-services technology startups that it says w The FIS HiPo Network, short for “high potential,” so far includes half a dozen fintech startups: Akouba, an online platform for the processing of small-business loans; Bleu, a …