For Apple Inc. to become a disruptor in the rapidly growing buy now, pay later market, the technology giant is going to have to win consumer’s trust and demonstrate its BNPL platform is secure. Reports of Apple developing a BNPL product, which the company has internally dubbed Apple Pay Later, …
Read More »Mastercard And Verizon Team up on 5G for Payments, But the Collaboration Will Require Patience
Wireless connectivity at faster speeds and with more reliable service could be more widely available to the payments industry in as few as two years or less. Mastercard Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.’s Verizon Business unit announced Tuesday morning they intend to work together to make 5G connectivity available in …
Read More »GoDaddy in Google Tie-up and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/13/21
GoDaddy Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit announced an integration that enables GoDaddy clients access to various Google online properties from GoDaddy’s online store. These clients will be able to create a Google Merchant Center account, sync their online product listing on Google, and promote their products on Google.Payments-technology startup KodyPay Ltd. announced …
Read More »ICBA Bancard Adds Real Time Payments and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/12/21
ICBA Bancard, the payment services subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America, said it now offers real-time payments via Finzly, a fintech, and its connection to The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC’s Real Time Payments network.Mastercard Inc. and Major League Baseball announced a multiyear extension of their sponsorship deal. Mastercard …
Read More »BNPL Specialist Klarna Looks to Bolster Its Role in E-Commerce With Its Hero Deal
With volumes rising fast in both e-commerce generally and in the buy now, pay later business, BNPL payments provider Klarna AB has made a play to secure its position in both markets. The company announced Friday it has acquired Hero Towers Ltd., a 6-year-old social-shopping service that lets consumers interact …
Read More »And Then There Were Two: Colorado’s Passage of Surcharge Law Leaves Massachusetts and Connecticut As Only States With Surcharge Bans
With Colorado Governor Jared Polis signing Senate Bill 21-091, repealing the state’s ban on credit card surcharging, Colorado has a surcharging law that not only ensures proper disclosure about surcharges to consumers, but mirrors the surcharging rules implemented by Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. The new law, signed by Polis …
Read More »Two Charged by Justice Dept. in Card Scheme and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/9/21
The U.S. Justice Department charged two individuals in a $19 million credit card laundering scheme. Arrested were Steven Short, former head of E.M. Systems & Services LLC on charges of fraudulently obtaining credit card processing services for his allegedly deceptive Florida-based telemarketing operation. From 2012 to 2015, Short and E.M. Systems, …
Read More »COMMENTARY: Congress Could Scrap Debit Pricing Caps—if It Feels Enough Heat
With his eponymous Durbin Amendment, passed into law just over a decade ago, Illinois’s senior senator intended to hurt large banks, along with Visa and Mastercard. The text, however, couldn’t be as expressly punitive as Durbin might have liked. He would likely have preferred capping debit interchange and network acquirer …
Read More »As Buy Now, Pay Later Usage Rises, It Bids to Become an ‘Option’ Rather Than Just a ‘Sweetener’
Consumer usage of buy now, pay later has increased significantly over the last couple of years. Research from Auriemma Consulting Group Inc. reveals the number of debit card holders offered a BNPL option in-store or online increased more than 10 percentage points between the first quarter of 2019 and the …
Read More »June Retail Sales up 11% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/8/21
U.S. retail sales increased 11% in June from June 2020, according to the latest Mastercard Inc. SpendingPulse report. They were up 10.4% compared to June 2019. E-commerce sales increased 8.3% year-over-year and were up 95% over June 2019.Payments provider Paysafe Ltd. launched a program that lets travel businesses accepting consumer payments to use a …
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