Competitive Strategies

Merchant processor First American Payment Systems L.P. on Thursday reported that it bought the independent sales organization portfolio of Chase Commerce Solutions, the merchant-acquiring and payment-processing unit of banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. Neither company would disclose the purchase price or the number of ISOs and merchants involved in the …

It may have been a so-so year for initial public offerings in payments, but 2015 was a boffo year for private financing of payments startups. And early indications are that 2016 may be just as good. Through Nov. 10, there were 235 funding deals for payments companies worldwide, with investments …

Payment processors Square Inc. and First Data Corp. made headlines in 2015’s market for initial public offerings of stock, but neither company was a standout, according to recent market reviews. In fact, a new analysis by PitchBook, a Seattle-based provider of a data-analysis platform for venture-capital and other financial firms, lists …

You thought your refrigerator was just for storing and cooling your food? Think again. MasterCard Inc. says it has introduced the first app that lets a consumer buy groceries from a refrigerator. The app is preloaded into Samsung’s new, high-tech Family Hub refrigerator that features a 21.5-inch touchscreen as well …

Open-loop financial-services prepaid cards will be one of the fastest-growing segments for prepaid over the next two years, forecasts the “12th Annual U.S. Prepaid Cards Market Forecasts, 2015-2018,” recently released by Mercator Advisory Group Inc. The report, which gauges the growth potential of both open-loop and closed-loop prepaid cards, also …

As 2016 beckons, multiple challenges and opportunities await the payments industry and the Electronic Transactions Association, a Washington, D.C.-based trade group that represents the merchant-acquiring and -processing industry. Incoming ETA board president Greg Cohen says the association, and the payments industry it represents, are in the midst of a transformation …

By John Stewart Market signals may be mixed, but on balance the 2015 holiday season will be a merry one for plastic and digital gift cards, according to Mercator Advisory Group. The Maynard, Mass.-based research firm’s annual forecast for November and December estimates loads on closed-loop U.S. gift cards will …

With Target Corp. reportedly planning its own mobile wallet, the nation’s fourth-largest retailer may some time next year join the largest, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in launching a proprietary wallet app. That could not only add to the fragmentation of the nascent digital-wallet market, it could also indicate weakening attachment to …

By Kevin Woodward Facebook Inc.’s newly launched integration of Uber, the car-hailing service, into its Messenger app relies on e-commerce-transaction processor Braintree to provide the payments connection. Facebook on Wednesday updated its Messenger communications app with a Transportation option that enables users to request a ride from a car service …

When Global Payments Inc.’s chief executive, Jeffrey S. Sloan, called his counterpart at Heartland Payment Systems Inc., Robert O. Carr, a couple of months ago, he had in mind the potential for a massive acquisition in the acquiring business. But, in making that call, he also took the latest step, …