News

December, 2020

• 21 December

  Scuppered Talks Between FIS And Global Payments Point to Enduring Importance of Size

  

  Mega-merger fever hasn’t subsided in the payments industry. A combination of FIS Inc. and Global Payments Inc., which have reportedly broken off talks to merge in a deal that could be valued at $70 billion, would represent a continued push for yet more economies of scale in a business whose …
• 21 December

  Burger King Taps Venmo in Promotion and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/21/20

  

  Fast-food chain Burger King is depositing $1 into random Venmo accounts to promote the chain’s $1 Your Way Menu, which features all items at a price of $1. Venmo is a peer-to-peer payments provider owned by PayPal Holdings Inc.Blackhawk Network said it has added a capability to order gift cards for curbside pickup …
• 18 December

  Debit Use Gains As Consumers Tread Through Uncertainty

  

  A new report finds that debit card use is gaining favor among consumers compared to credit cards immediately following the national election in November. That’s according to The Future of Money Report 2020 from Logica Research. “This unprecedented year has uncovered contrasts between challenges and opportunities in the world as …
• 18 December

  Instacart Heralds Fast Expansion of Its Service With Aldi for SNAP EBT Grocery Orders

  

  An integration between online delivery service Instacart and grocery chain Aldi that lets customers use government benefits to order grocery deliveries has seen fast expansion since the program launched in October. Almost 1,000 Aldi stores in 23 states plus the District of Columbia have been added to the program in recent …
• 18 December

  Grocer Picks Blackhawk for Gift Card Program and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/18/20

  

  WinCo Foods, a grocery chain with 129 stores in the Western United States, has launched a gift card program from Blackhawk Network.Buy now, pay later service Zip announced an offer of 3% cash back on purchases on its service during the Christmas season through Jan. 8. Zip recently launched Tap & Zip, which …
• 17 December

  Bill Payments Account for One-Fifth of U.S. Consumer Spending, Research Shows

  

  Household bill payments now total $2.75 trillion per year in the United States, accounting for 21% of all spending by U.S. consumers, according to a report released Thursday by doxo Inc., a provider of digital billing and payment services. The Seattle-based company’s research looks at bill payments via bank accounts …
• 17 December

  BitPay And Slide Mobile Look to Rewards to Spur Everyday Cryptocurrency Spending

  

  Startup Slide Mobile is betting that consumer’s love of rewards, coupled with the growing momentum behind cryptocurrency as a contactless payment option during the Covid-19 pandemic, will entice more consumers to use its mobile-payments app. Slide announced this week it is partnering with BitPay Inc., an Atlanta-based processor that offers …
• 17 December

  Hale & Hearty Picks Appetize and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/17/20

  

  The Hale & Hearty Soups fast-casual chain of 20 locations in Boston and the New York City area has chosen Appetize Technologies Inc. to upgrade its point-of-sale operations. The deployment is expected to conclude next month.With consumers worldwide reluctant to travel by air because of fears of catching Covid-19, some 78% of …
• 16 December

  As Digital Payments Heat Up, Fiserv Agrees to Acquire Card-Control Technology Provider Ondot

  

  Fiserv Inc. announced Wednesday an agreement to acquire, for an undisclosed sum, Ondot Systems Inc., whose technology includes so-called card controls, or tools that allow cardholders to switch usage on or off according to considerations of security or preferred usage. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter …
• 16 December

  Why Its Deal for Poynt Means More Than Payment Terminals for Web Giant GoDaddy

  

  GoDaddy Inc.’s agreement to buy Poynt Co., announced late Tuesday, will broaden GoDaddy’s focus into payment services for online merchants and could make the Web-services company a key player in merchant acquiring, observers and company executives say. The deal, in which GoDaddy has agreed to pay $320 million in cash …