Thursday , January 16, 2025

Issuing/Originating

Eye On BNPL: Afterpay, Flexiti, And Why Consumers Are Embracing Multiple Apps

Buy now, pay later continues to be a hot option as retailers look for ways to entice shoppers to buy more and increase online conversions and in-store traffic.  Afterpay Ltd. announced Wednesday that its fifth bi-annual Afterpay Day promotion will include brick-and-mortar retailers for the first time. The event is scheduled …

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As the ACH Network Readies for Covid Relief, Payments Groups Seek to Correct the Record on Funding Date

In response to erroneous reports about funds availability, The Clearing House Payments Co., Nacha, and seven other banking and payments groups said Tuesday that Economic Impact Payments from the federal government will start to become available to recipients Wednesday morning. A statement from the nine groups, plus a separate statement …

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Card Brands Delay Interchange Updates and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/16/21

Responding to pressure from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and other critics, Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are delaying planned adjustments to their credit card interchange rates until April next year, Bloomberg News reported. The rate adjustments had been set for next month and involved an estimated net $889 million in increased fee income for …

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Debit Use And Contactless Payments Are up After a Year of Covid, PSCU Notes

Debit is the most preferred payment option among consumers and contactless payments have doubled in the year since the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s the assessment from the “Tracking Transaction Trends” report for the week ending March 7 from PSCU, a credit union service organization. Debit card spend for …

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COMMENTARY: To the New Congress: Beware of the Durbin Amendment’s Failures

With the Covid-19 pandemic still imposing a huge financial weight on the nation’s small businesses and families, many legislators are understandably eager to pursue policies they feel will ease that burden. But lawmakers must be careful that they are looking at policies that really will help. Unfortunately, some sectors—in this …

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MerchantE Teams With UnionPay to Boost UnionPay Approval Rates in the U.S.

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 …

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A Sneak Peek From Visa Shows U.S. Debit Volume Growth Continues As Credit Volume Dips

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 …

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Hotelier Adds Bitcoin Acceptance and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/10/21

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 …

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How the Pandemic Helped Drive a Startling Increase in Identity Theft Losses

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 …

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Handpoint To Use MagicCube POS Technology and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/9/21

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 …

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Digital Transactions