Visa Inc. divulged both grim and hopeful payment data Thursday that largely reflects what its rivals have been seeing after the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic. “After strong growth in January and February, payments volumes dropped precipitously in the second half of March as lockdowns went into effect across …
Read More »More Than Half of U.S. Consumers Now Use Some Form of Contactless Payments, Mastercard Says
Contactless payments may finally be gaining further adoption by U.S. consumers. Spurred by prevention efforts in reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic, many consumers—51%—use some form of contactless payment, Mastercard Inc. says. In what may be the most detailed data yet publicly released about U.S. consumers and contactless payments, Mastercard’s survey …
Read More »Mastercard Volumes Beginning To Show Some Stabilization after Sharp Drop-Off
Mastercard Inc. managed to remain profitable in the first quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic began to sweep the world, and its volume and transaction data for April indicate a possible bottoming out of the steep decline in consumer and business spending. U.S. dollar volume switched over Mastercard’s network in the …
Read More »Euronet Takes on U.S. ATM Outsourcing With Its Dolphin Debit Acquisition
It may be headquartered in suburban Kansas City, but payment-services provider Euronet Worldwide Inc.’s network of 46,070 ATMs operates in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. With today’s announcement that it has acquired ATM outsourcer Dolphin Debit, however, Euronet is gaining a foothold in the U.S. ATM market. Houston-based Dolphin …
Read More »COMMENTARY: Contactless Payments Are Paying Off for Consumer Health
The onset of the novel coronavirus has caused a seismic shift in the daily lives of Americans. While recent data in the fight against this pandemic are encouraging, we’re not out of the woods yet, and we will be slow to return to life as we once knew it. Social …
Read More »EMS and Womply Pair To Aid Merchant PPP Applications and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/24/20
Independent sales organization Electronic Merchant Systems said it is working with Womply, a software and data-services provider for small businesses, to help merchants find lenders offering quick access to loan applications through the government’s Paycheck Protection Program, a Covid-19 relief effort.For the first time, ransomware incidents overtook payment card data when comparing the …
Read More »Prepaid Specialist Blackhawk Rolls Out Digital Rewards And Gets Set to Launch a Donation Site
With consumers contending with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, rewards offered by the card networks could take on added importance. Blackhawk Network is counting on that, and has introduced a capability for mobile-phone users to add digital rewards to their Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay wallets. Working …
Read More »Google’s Financial-Services Plans May Include a Card Redux
It’s well known that Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit wants to offer consumers checking accounts, though that service has yet to launch. But the search-engine giant also reportedly is developing a debit card that would work in concert with its Google Pay mobile-payments service, according to news reports from Silicon Valley. …
Read More »Airlines Urged To Have Payments Options Ready Once Pandemic Restrictions Ease
Nearly empty commercial airline flights mean a lot less tickets being purchased. This result of efforts to tamp down the Covid-19 infection packs a wallop for the travel industry. But, the time can be put to use taking care of formerly delayed payment projects and preparing for the resumption of …
Read More »FreedomPay Adds Google Pay Support and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/17/20
Payments provider FreedomPay has added support for Google Pay, enabling Google Pay users to make e-commerce payments in Android apps and in Web browsers. This can be done on a merchant’s Web site regardless of browser or operating system or within an Android app, with FreedomPay securely integrating to the Google Payments …
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