Mobile Commerce

Criminals figured out in 2018 how to really frustrate retailers. They automated their bots to create high-volume attacks against online merchants, finds the ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report: H2 2018. Released Tuesday by ThreatMetrix, an anti-fraud company purchased by LexisNexis Risk Solutions last year, the report finds there were 5.5 billion bot …

Business-services firm Accenture invested in and formed an alliance with P97 Networks Inc., a cloud-based mobile-commerce firm specializing in automotive. As part of the agreement, Accenture will develop products from P97 for its clients. P97’s PetroZone service is installed at more than 20,000 U.S. filling stations. Terms of the investment …

Square Inc. is rapidly growing into a heavyweight player in the hard-fought market for peer-to-peer payments. The San Francisco-based company had 15 million active users in December for its P2P product, Cash App, a number that doubled from December 2017, the San Francisco-based company disclosed on Wednesday. That’s still well …

Retailers, like many other businesses, have probably had their fill of fraud attempts. Unfortunately, criminals have not. Between May 1 and Dec. 31, 2018, Akamai Technologies detected more than 10 billion credential-stuffing attacks aimed at retailers, accounting for more than a third of all such attempts—28 billion—in that period. In …

The global processor Worldpay Inc. is beating its own expectations in knitting together the assets combined in the huge merger of Vantiv Inc. and Worldpay plc and is looking to make more acquisitions this year, top executives said Tuesday. Speaking to stock analysts to discuss Cincinnati-based Worldpay’s fourth-quarter and full-year …

The federal court handling the long-running class-action litigation between merchants on one hand and big banks and Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. on the other announced on Friday it has granted “preliminary approval” to a settlement that could award between $5.54 billion and $6.24 billion to merchant plaintiffs. The parties …

A Visa-branded debit card from Shift Financial Inc. that enabled consumers with accounts at digital currency exchange Coinbase to spend based on funds held in their Coinbase accounts reportedly will cease operations in April, said the CoinTelegraph.com news site. The card, issued by Metropolitan Commercial Bank, reportedly faced a limited …

Global Payments Inc. on Wednesday credited a technology-centered strategy it has developed over the past six years for record results in 2018. Chief executive Jeff Sloan also pointed to the increasing investments required of payments providers as a leading cause of industry consolidation, in particular the pending merger of industry …

Grocer The Kroger Co. launched Kroger Pay and the Kroger Rewards debit card. Kroger Pay, available for iOS and Android mobile devices, is a Quick Response code-based mobile-payment service, which also includes digital coupons and personalized offers. Currently, Kroger Pay is available in Columbus, Ohio, with plans for nationwide expansion …

E-commerce and payment-services provider Shopify Inc. said fourth-quarter gross payment volume hit $5.8 billion, up approximately 65% from $2.3 billion a year earlier. The net loss narrowed to $1.5 million versus $3 million in 2017’s fourth quarter. Merchant acquirer Elavon in partnership with American Express Co. unveiled a service intended …