Visa Inc. reportedly is planning interchange rate changes that could raise merchants’ acceptance costs for card-not-present transactions but lower costs in some other categories, including purchases at big grocery-store chains. Citing a Visa document circulating among the network’s client banks, the Bloomberg news service reported Tuesday that interchange for a …
Read More »How the Onset of 5G Could Become a Winning Bet for Mobile Wagering And Payments
One often overlooked market for mobile payments is sports betting, and now some payments providers are wagering that the segment is about to get hot with the ongoing rollout of 5G mobile-network connectivity. “We would urge sports-betting operators to be ready for the increased traffic on their platforms. It’s a …
Read More »Cornerstone Purchases Move Your Mountain and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/3/20
Cornerstone Payment Systems announced the acquisition of Move Your Mountain, a crowd-funding platform. Terms were not disclosed.Digital cross-border payments provider Remitly Inc. launched Passbook by Remitly, a mobile app aimed at immigrants in the United States that features a no-fee account from Sunrise Banks N.A. and real-time transfers via Visa Inc.’s Visa Direct …
Read More »In Canada, Fast-Growing Debit Gets Further Impetus Via a New Rule That Opens More Acceptance Venues
A new rule took effect this week in Canada that is expected to enable more debit card transactions by opening up venues such as buses, trains, parking meters, and vending machines for acceptance. The regulation, called Rule E5, comes from Payments Canada, the country’s clearing-and-settlement operator, and amends a prior …
Read More »Little Good News for Payments Companies in 2019 Data Breach Report
How will 2019 be remembered for data breaches? Not well. The number of U.S. data breaches tracked by the Identity Theft Resource Center increased to 1,473, a 17% increase from 1,257 in 2018. Drilling into the payments sector, the increase was larger, according to a newly released report from the …
Read More »‘Is Cash Still King?’ and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/30/20
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Task Force on Financial Technology held a hearing Thursday morning titled “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments.” Witnesses included representatives from PayPal, the U.S. Faster Payments Council, the Brookings Institute, Consumer Reports, and a New York City non-profit dedicated to financial …
Read More »Visa Will Be the Network for the New Venmo Card As PayPal Gets Set for Growth in China
News emerged Wednesday from PayPal Holdings Inc.’s earnings call that Visa Inc. will serve as the network for a Venmo credit card PayPal announced in October. This development follows by one week PayPal’s announcement that it has struck a deal with UnionPay, China’s payment card giant, to integrate UnionPay cards …
Read More »Mastercard Reports Strong Volume Growth, but Is Keeping an Eye on the Coronavirus
Mastercard Inc. on Wednesday reported double-digit growth in fourth-quarter purchase volume and transactions, but reduced economic activity from the Coronavirus that originated in China could put a crimp on growth early this year. “We’ll take this as it comes, one step at a time,” Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga said …
Read More »eBay To Expand Payments Program and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/29/20
EBay Inc. plans to expand its managed-payments program dramatically starting in the second half of next year, officials said Tuesday. Introduced last year, the program depends on a gateway from Adyen NV and now operates in the United States and Germany. “We will go hard at not only the markets that we’re in …
Read More »A Service Emerges to Let Online Users Gain Fast Access to Limited Content Via Digital Wallets
Digital solutions for very small payments were a hot topic a decade ago, but now the subject is making a comeback in the publishing business, where a slide in print advertising and other revenue sources is pushing publishers to seek new business in digital access. This week, Piano Software Inc., …
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