Mobile Commerce

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Dollars loaded onto closed-loop gift cards fell 9% in 2015, according to new research from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. But one major prepaid card issuer, Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc., franchisor of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins stores, reports that its DD Perks loyalty program now has more …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Retailers considering or starting a digital gift card program may do well to study the programs offered by Sephora USA Inc., Starbucks Corp., The Home Depot Inc., Dunkin’ Donuts, and Amazon.com Inc. Their digital gift card programs ranked at the top of a roster of 100 retailers …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Mobile payments continue to garner merchant interest as more retailers are accepting mobile wallets, research shows. Meanwhile, drug-store chain Walgreens is making its loyalty program available to users of Android Pay. Thirty-four percent of small businesses accept mobile payments like Apple Pay and Android Pay, finds the …

• Guardian Analytics, a fraud-risk technology vendor, introduced what it says is the industry’s first real-time service to detect fraud in same-day automated clearing house transactions. Same-day ACH is scheduled to begin processing Sept. 23 with ACH credits, leaving some experts concerned that originating and receiving institutions will have less …

• Apparel retailer Eddie Bauer LLC said payment cards used at its more than 350 U.S. and Canadian stores from Jan. 2 to July 17 may have been compromised by malware placed on its point-of-sale systems, KrebsOnSecurity.com reported. The malware has been removed; Eddie Bauer said the “intrusion was part …

JPMorgan Chase Co.’s Chase Pay mobile wallet, probably the most ambitious bank-operated U.S. mobile-payments service, on Wednesday announced it has signed up Phillips 66 Co., which sells gasoline under the Phillips 66, Conoco, and 76 brands, and will accept Chase Pay at its pumps and in its stores. No date …

Slowly but surely, the big merchants that make up the stalled Merchant Customer Exchange LLC retailer consortium are finding their own way in mobile payments. The latest example is MCX stalwart CVS Health Corp., which on Thursday announced the launch of its CVS Pay mobile wallet. The Woonsocket, R.I.-based chain …

By Jim Daly @DTPaymentNews Square Inc. reported Wednesday that its payment volume grew 42% in the second quarter to $12.5 billion, and, while still reporting a loss, the merchant processor edged toward profitability as its adjusted revenues jumped 54%. Square, which began signing merchants in 2010, also raised its financial …

Payments-service provider WePay Inc. has expanded into the United Kingdom, a move that could make it easier for its clients to offer services internationally, WePay announced Tuesday. WePay’s client list includes organizations such as GoFundMe, Meetup, Care.com, Fresh Books, and Constant Contact. Organizations like these rely on crowdfunding payments. WePay …

For years, PayPal Holdings Inc. has struggled to bring its popular online payment product to the physical point of sale, and now a deal announced Thursday with Visa Inc. may help the company finally realize that ambition. The sweeping, multiyear agreement could also represent a thaw in what have often …