Competitive Strategies

Digital ordering took off when the pandemic set in, and while Covid has subsided, the appetite for online ordering and payment has only surged among restaurants. Now the trend has claimed a major chain that until now had proven resistant to the technology. Olo Inc., a New York City-based dining-technology …

Short-message service, or SMS, is coming to the aid of fraud managers looking to verify the identity of persons on the receiving end of payments transactions. The technology, which undergirds the well-known texting function between users of mobile phones, can be harnessed to stop fraud, according to security firm DataVisor …

Payments platform FreedomPay has agreed to offer Citi Pay, a provider of point-of-sale financing and a unit of Citi Retail Services, to its merchant clients. Payment processor 100Group announced an expansion in motorsports with an agreement to process transactions for Tony Stewart Racing. SimplePin Inc., a payments platform specializing in the insurance industry, has …

With real-time payments perhaps on the cusp of becoming an essential payment service, Navy Federal Credit Union, which rung up $2.7 million in real-time deposits on its first full day on the RTP network from The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC, is using Alacriti to connect to the network. Bridgewater, …

E-commerce wallet-technology provider Citcon USA LLC has partnered with Alipay to enable merchants in the United States to accept e-wallet payments from international travelers through the Alipay+ platform. Alipay+ is a cross-border mobile-payment platform that enables consumers traveling abroad to make purchases using a chosen payment method.  The partnership marks …

Amazon.com will stop accepting Venmo for payments effective Jan. 10, according to news reports and a page on Venmo’s Web site. “Due to recent changes, Venmo can no longer be added as a payment method. Venmo will remain available to users who currently have it enabled in their Amazon wallet …

SoundHound AI Inc. said it will acquire SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions, a voice artificial intelligence and technology provider for restaurants, in a deal valued at $25 million. Once completed, the deal will extend SoundHound’s services to 10,000 locations and more than 25 national and multinational chains. The deal is expected to close …

Payments-platform provider Pidgin Inc. will work with Modern Banking Systems, a provider of core bank-processing technology, in an effort to bring real-time payments capability to community banks. Pidgin’s platform supports real-time processing through multiple payment rails, including FedNow and The Clearing House Payments Co.’s Real-Time Payments network. The deal was …

Paze, the upcoming digital wallet backed by banks, has lined up an integration with Endava plc, a software-development firm. Announced Wednesday, the integration, which will be available when Paze launches in 2024, means merchants that use Endava can offer the Paze online checkout. London-based Endava says the simplified checkout will …

Exceleron, a payments service for utility companies, said it is working with payments platform KyckGlobal to allow persons to pay a utility bill with cash at certain ATMs. Dash Solutions acquired KyckGlobal in August. Payments and loyalty platform Givex announced an integration with Uber Direct to enable merchants to add on-demand delivery service to …