Issuing/Originating

FirstBank, one of the largest privately held financial institutions in the United States, said it has committed to using the Real Time Payments network from The Clearing House Payments Co. Glint Pay Ltd., a startup that lets people make purchases on a debit Mastercard backed by gold, announced a $6.4 …

A common assumption among merchant acquirers and retailers is that merchants are the ones who ultimately are liable for network fines after a merchant’s data breach. But a recent decision by a federal appellate court that ruled against First Data Corp., the nation’s largest payment processor, sends a message that …

Groupon announced it will provide GasBuddy, a fuel-price reporting service, with food and drink offers from local merchants via card linking. Consumers will be able to load offers directly to an eligible payment card after completing an opt-in enrollment in the GasBuddy app. POSaBIT, a fintech supplier to the legal …

A survey of more than 3,000 consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, sponsored by Transaction Network Services, shows the heaviest adoption of mobile-payment apps in the U.S., at 59% of respondents, but the highest adoption of contactless payments in the U.K., at 79%. Perhaps not surprisingly, younger …

Visa Inc. on Tuesday furthered its ambitions to expand beyond card payments with the commercial launch of a cross-border network that leverages blockchain technology to help manage business-to-business transfers. The network, called Visa B2B Connect, starts out with coverage of more than 30 so-called global trade corridors and plans to …

Private-equity firm Acuity Capital Partners LLC acquired specialty gift card manufacturer Sterling Card Solutions, according to Sterling’s financial advisor, the investment bank Capstone Headwaters. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Besides gift cards, Sterling makes hotel key cards, identification cards, phone cards, and other products. Half the world’s population, …

The news that the major payment card networks will implement a standardized buy button later this year may have stirred hopes among issuers, merchants, and acquirers that the longstanding problems of rising e-commerce fraud and inconsistent checkout flows will finally be addressed. But already cautionary notes are emerging to indicate …

Publix Super Markets Inc. is adding a payments feature to its mobile app, first with a version for iOS devices and later for Android devices, according to The Ledger in Lakeland, Fla. Publix has 1,218 grocery stores in the Southeast, including 800 in Florida. Amazon.com and Synchrony Financial launched the …

With last week’s introduction of contactless card acceptance on New York City subway and bus systems, hopes are riding high on mass transit to at last stimulate contactless acceptance and usage in the United States. Now recent research indicates acceptance is picking up rapidly pretty much everywhere.  The number of …

Discover Financial Services chief financial officer R. Mark Graf will retire in early 2020, Discover announced. Graf joined Discover in 2011. The company has hired an executive-search team to find his successor. American Express Co. enhanced the rewards package on its Gold Card; cardholders will now get 4-times Membership Rewards …