Digital Currency

Clowd9, a cloud-based payment-processing platform, said it will use 3-D Secure issuer services from Netcetera to authenticate transactions and for access control services. Mastercard Inc. introduced its Mastercard Artist Accelerator program, which aims to assist fledgling music artists through nonfungible tokens and other Web3 technologies.

The number of cryptocurrency hacks globally reached 190 last year, setting a new annual record and exceeding 2021’s total by 44%, according to Comparitech. The value stolen totaled $3.57 billion, exceeding the combined total for 2019, 2020, and 2021. Some 82% of senders of remittances across borders said the cost of living has risen …

Dealer-Pay, a payments-technology provider for automobile dealerships, has integrated its platform with Dealertrack, a management system serving the same industry. Guarda, whose cryptocurrency wallet includes a prepaid Visa card, added five more digital currencies to the 14 it already supports. Supported cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin and Ethereum. Japan-based Smartpay has launched Smartpay …

You wouldn’t know it from all the headline stories regarding the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, but below the surface commerce in digital currencies continues unabated, albeit still at very low volumes relative to commerce in fiat. RocketFuel Blockchain Inc., a San Francisco crypto processor for e-commerce merchants, announced …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered Wells Fargo Bank to pay $3.7 billion, including a $1.7-billon civil penalty and $2 billion in redress to consumers, for what the bureau says were illegal fees and interest charges on auto and mortgage loans, incorrect charges on checking and savings accounts, and other “incorrect” …

Point-of-sale system maker TouchBistro released its 2023 “State of Restaurants” report that found 76% of restaurant operators changed their POS systems in the past year and 66% used a system with an integrated payment processing service. The study, now in its fifth year, was based on research from 600 full service restaurant …

Not all countries, companies, and persons will suffer equally from inflation in 2023, as Europe will see a decline in economic activity while the U.S. market will experience limited economic growth, forecasts the Mastercard Economics Institute. Food-service provider Sodexo North America’s InReach unit has contracted with payments provider Cantaloupe to upgrade 18,800 vending machiens and …

Jitters about the economy and the impact of the FTX implosion may have combined to clobber the cryptocurrency market, but new data shows that app downloads peaked as long as a year ago. In fact, downloads of crypto trading apps from the App Store, and Google Play, along with direct …

Curve OS Ltd. said it secured a deal with Credit Suisse to fund its first $1 billion in installment loans, via its Curve Flex product, in the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. London-based Curve announced Curve Flex in 2021. A survey from Bango PLC of 2,500 U.S. subscription users found that 65% said …

Digital-currency platform Circle Internet Financial Corp. said it and Concord Acquisition Corp. have agreed to terminate a merger the companies had agreed to in July 2021 and amended in February. Nine-year-old Circle posted its first profit in the third quarter, with net income of $43 million. A 2-year-old U.K.-based e-commerce payments provider called Wamo said …