Digital Currency

Fiserv Inc. said its First Data unit, together with Visa Inc. and Samsung Electronics, is demonstrating a new software-based point-of-sale technology that allows an everyday mobile device to accept contactless payments from contactless cards or phones or wearables equipped with near-field communication. A pilot of the technology is set for Poland …

Payments provider NovoPayment said it is introducing instant-payment service Visa Direct for a range of payments, including person-to-person transfers and mass payouts. The move allows issuers, acquirers, and merchants to bring the services to market faster via application programming interfaces, the company said.EVO Payments Inc. said Aldelo, a point-of-sale software developer, selected …

Several backers of Facebook Inc.’s proposed Libra cryptocurrency are having second thoughts because of regulatory pushback, according to a British newspaper report. Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission announced settlements Thursday with four defendants accused of falsely promising big returns to consumers who paid in cryptocurrencies to participate in an alleged …

More than a score of Texas cities have been hit with ransomware, crippling their municipal computer systems and accounting for one-third of all municipal ransomware attacks so far this year, according to Armor Defense Inc., a cloud-security company. It released a ransomware report Tuesday. Among the latest cities is Borger, …

Point-of-sale equipment maker Scansource Inc. announced it will divest distribution businesses in Europe, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Chile, and Peru, as well as its Miami-based export operation, as part of a strategic repositioning. The businesses totaled $623 million in net sales in fiscal 2019.Apple Inc. said its Apple Card is now open to all U.S. …

A CreditCards.com poll found that 49% of U.S. adults usually pay with cash for transactions of less than $10. Thirty-five percent use debit cards and 16% use credit cards. The survey canvassed more than 2,500 adults in July.Eighty-two percent each of Generation X consumers and Baby Boomers buy in-store at least monthly, Blackhawk …

Under pressure from changing market conditions and challenges from digital-based competitors, money-transfer giants The Western Union Co. and MoneyGram International Inc. both reported disappointing second-quarter results. In addition, Denver-based Western Union said it will chop its workforce by 10% over the coming months as part of a cost-reduction campaign it …

Mastercard Inc. has become the first payment card network to join the NoMoreRansom initiative sponsored by Europol, a support-services organization for law-enforcement agencies in the European Union. Europol says the 3-year-old NoMoreRansom public-private partnership project has helped 200,000 ransomware victims recover their computer files free of charge and has prevented …

Shareholders of payment processor Worldpay Inc. this week voted overwhelmingly in favor of the company’s planned merger with Fidelity National Information Services Inc., which is expected to close in the third quarter.The Bancorp Inc., owner of The Bancorp Bank, a major prepaid card issuer, reported gross dollar volume on the bank’s prepaid cards …

Facebook Inc. chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says his massive social-networking company is using an open process to get its proposed Libra cryptocurrency into the market and won’t roll it out until all concerns are addressed. Zuckerberg fielded questions about the controversial Libra project at the company’s second-quarter earnings conference call …