Debit Cards

The U.S. Senator who gave his name nearly a decade ago to a law that caps debit card interchange made it plain Thursday he now has the rates merchants pay for credit card acceptance squarely in his sights. Commenting during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he heads, …

By linking directly to UnionPay’s SecurePlus two-factor authentication application, digital-commerce platform provider Merchant e-Solutions Inc. expects to significantly reduce decline rates for UnionPay debit card transactions in the United States.  Decline rates are an especially nettlesome issue for UnionPay debit card holders, who account for about 60% of UnionPay’s 9 …

Visa Inc. said U.S. debit volume increased 31% in January and 16% in February over the comparable 2020 months, while its credit volume dipped 6% and 8%, respectively. In an 8-K filing, Visa, which did not release actual volume data, said for the quarter to date overall U.S. payments volume …

All eight hotels in The Kessler Collection will accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under an agreement with digital-currency processor BitPay Inc. Guests will receive an email, from which they may pay using their crypto wallet.Personas Social Inc. launched its Paysonas payment-processing platform, which supports online real-time debit and Bitcoin.Menufy, a provider of online-ordering …

Some 47% of U.S. adults have reported identity theft over the past two years, while the fraud’s toll ballooned to $712.4 billion in 2020, up 42% from 2019, according to a report released Tuesday by Aite Group, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, and sponsored by Giact, an Allen, Texas-based …

Point-of-sale technology provider Handpoint has agreed to adopt the i-Accept technology from MagicCube Inc. The technology allows merchants to accept card transactions on off-the-shelf mobile devices.Citcon, a provider of mobile-wallet acceptance at the point of sale, has agreed to integrate its technology with that of Agilysys Inc., a vendor of point-of-sale technology …

Payments provider Priority Technology Holdings Inc. announced it has agreed to acquire Finxera Holdings Inc., a provider of banking-as-a-service technology. Terms were not announced for the transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter.Mastercard Inc. said it is expanding its Engage platform to digital first deployment, assistance and training through the …

Shift4 Payments Inc. refers to the volume potential it’s trying to tap as a “coiled spring” waiting to be released as Covid restrictions ease. On Thursday, the big payments processor tapped into that potential with its $72-million acquisition of VenueNext Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based provider of mobile payments, point-of-sale …

Payments provider The OLB Group Inc. said its SecurePay gateway can now support cryptocurrency transactions and settlement of funds for merchants, putting crypto on par with credit and debit payments.PayActiv Inc., a provider of earned-wage access technology, said Hancock Whitney is the first financial institution to offer the company’s service.In related news, …

Cash purchases fell to historic lows in 2020 as consumers shifted their payment preferences to contactless technologies such as mobile wallets, according to the 2021 Global Payments Report by Worldpay from FIS Inc. Cash transactions represented just 20.5% of global point-of-sale volume in 2020, down from 30.2% 2019, according to …