Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Microsoft Corp. may bring impressive technical chops as it enters the mobile-payments race, but if ever there were a David up against Goliaths, it’s now the Redmond, Wash.-based computing giant. News broke last week that Microsoft has used a company called Microsoft Payments Inc. to apply for money-transmission licenses with …
Read More »While EMV And Mobile Captivate the Industry, Big Retailers Express Frustrations
By John Stewart EMV chip cards and mobile payments may be two abiding passions of the payments industry these days, but major merchants are far from sold on either technology, judging by comments from a number of them Tuesday at a payments-technology conference. Most big retailers are gearing up for …
Read More »Consumers Want to Use Apple Pay, But Find Merchant Acceptance Lacking: Survey
It’s a familiar refrain in payments: For consumers to use a payment method there has to be places to use it. Apple Pay, it seems even with all of the hoopla surrounding it, is no different. That’s what a recent report from Phoenix Marketing International, a Rhineback, N.Y.-based firm, …
Read More »PayPal Will Include NFC Capability in the Coming Version of Its Mobile Wallet
After long belittling near-field communication technology by joking that its acronym, NFC, stands for “Not for Commerce,” PayPal Inc. before the end of the year will launch a new version of its mobile wallet featuring the technology. PayPal, which has been working with NFC in Australia, will replace its current …
Read More »The Fed Finds Rising Mobile-Payments Adoption, But Big Hurdles Hinder Usage
The number of mobile-payments users in the United States is growing steadily, but most mobile-phone owners still find other payment methods more convenient, and the frequency of payment use with phones is still low. These are among the conclusions of a Federal Reserve consumer survey conducted in December that also …
Read More »Acculynk’s Mobile Update Brings PIN Authentication to Online EMV Purchases
Merchants looking for a way to secure e-commerce and mobile-commerce transactions made with credit and debit cards have a new option with the debut of an update to Acculynk Inc.’s PaySecure service. The Acculynk technology allows consumers to make PIN-based transactions on their PCs and mobile devices. The Atlanta-based …
Read More »Optimal Buys Skrill for $1.2 Billion, Eyes Gaming Opportunities
Online-payments provider Skrill Group has a new owner. United Kingdom-based Optimal Payments Plc is buying London-based Skrill for 1.1 billion euros (U.S. $1.2 billion), Optimal announced Monday. Both companies provide digital-wallet services, with Skrill specializing in wallets for online-gambling users, e-commerce and money transfers. Skrill also offers a payment gateway and …
Read More »After Just 10 Months, Square Shuts Down Order, the Successor to Square Wallet
Payments observers have known for some time that not all companies introducing mobile wallets have met with success, but now Square Inc. has had to shutter a product that succeeded a failed wallet. The San Francisco-based company on Friday began notifying users of its Square Order app that the product …
Read More »75% of Apple Pay Users Make Repeat Apple Pay Purchases At Same Locations
Retailers like nothing more than for a new customer to become a familiar customer, and that seems to be happening with a portion of Apple Pay users, finds a report from Auriemma Consulting Group. New York-based Auriemma says data from its Apple Pay tracker survey, which canvasses Apple Pay use …
Read More »Shoppers Favor Retailers That Accept Mobile Wallets—And Punish Those That Don’t
By John Stewart While big-time companies like Apple Inc., Google Inc., and Samsung Electronics Co. prepare to battle it out for control of mobile payments, evidence is emerging that consumers may be strongly inclined to reward merchants that accept mobile wallets and punish those that don’t. Some 30% of consumers …
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