Buy now, pay later specialist Klarna AB raised $1 billion in an oversubscribed equity funding round that pegged the company’s valuation at $31 billion. Major U.S. clients include Macys, Etsy, Sephora, Ralph Lauren, and Urban Outfitters.In related news, BNPL provider Splitit Payments Ltd. announced its merchant sales volume increased almost 180% in 2020 to …
Read More »CardX Wins Its Kansas Surcharging Suit. Surcharging Bans Remain in Only Three States
CardX LLC, a surcharging-services provider, can now add another state to the list of places where it can do business. A federal judge ruled Thursday surcharging cannot be prohibited in Kansas. The decision leaves just Colorado, Massachusetts, and Connecticut with outright no-surcharge rules on the books. Filed May 29, 2020, …
Read More »Mastercard Switched Transactions Volume Dips 1% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/26/21
Switched transactions dipped 1% for the week ended Feb. 21 for Mastercard Inc. compared to the same week last year, the card network reported. It is the first weekly year-over-year dip in switched transactions for Mastercard so far this year and reflects a swing from 4% growth in the week ended Feb. …
Read More »Why PCI Is Refreshing Its Software Lifecycle Standard—And Retiring PA-DSS
The growing number of attacks targeting third-party developers’ payment applications, as well as the third-party applications into which the payments capabilities are integrated, is the impetus behind the PCI Security Standards Council’s decision to update the PCI Secure Software Lifecycle standard. Introduced this month, PCI Secure SLC Standard v1.1 is …
Read More »Clearent in Merger Deal and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/25/21
Payments provider Clearent LLC and Transaction Services Group, a New Zealand-based software and integrated payments provider, will merge and form Xplor Technologies, TSG announced. Terms were not disclosed. Both companies are part of investor Advent International’s portfolio. The combined company will serve more than 82,000 businesses that processed more than $27 billion …
Read More »Mobile Wallets Find In-Store Favor and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/24/21
In 2020, mobile-wallet usage exceeded that of cash for in-store payments for the first time, according to the annual Global Payments Report by Worldpay from FIS. The report, which canvassed 46,000 consumers worldwide, found cash usage fell 10 percentage points to account for 20% of all face-to-face transactions.Inspriration4, the civilian-crewed space mission …
Read More »With a Federal Lawsuit, Intuit Challenges the Card Networks’ Interchange Regime
Lawsuits brought by merchants against Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. have become almost routine for the two network giants, but now they face an unusual action—a suit from Intuit Inc., which is not only a card-accepting merchant but also an independent sales organization and payment facilitator. Filed Feb. 19 in …
Read More »NMI Acquires USAePay and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/23/21
Gateway provider NMI said it acquired USAePay in a deal that will strengthen NMI’s coverage in verticals, including retail and restaurant, where USAePay has had success. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, also will help create a stronger omnichannel capability for NMI. The combined company had more than $100 billion in annual …
Read More »‘We’re Building the Plane While We’re Flying It,’ Says Green Dot’s Boss About Soaring Go2Bank
Green Dot Corp.’s big bet on the underbanked has gotten off to a flying start, to hear the company’s top executives tell it. The bet is on Go2Bank, a mobile bank account that offers credit and debit cards, direct deposit, and a savings account. “It’s been great to see the …
Read More »Another Joins Isaacman Space Venture and other Digital Transactions News from 2/22/21
The planned Inspiration4 project, the first space flight with an all-civilian crew, added its second crew member, Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant in Memphis. Crew commander is Shift4 Payments Inc. chief executive Jared Isaacman.Credit union service organization PSCU said spending made with debit cards increased 12.5% for the week ending Feb. 14 compared to …
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