News

March, 2020

• 20 March

  Contactless Payment Use Drops, But Not As Much As Chip And Magstripe, a Report Finds

  

  With students not in school, the closure of restaurants and bars, and work-from-home edicts in place, consumer spending is shifting. Witness that in the week of March 9-15, the payment volume made with dipped EMV cards fell 5.17% from the week prior and mag-stripe volume fell 13.07%, according to the …
• 20 March

  Experts Expect Even Faster Growth for Same-Day ACH As a $100,000 Cap Goes Into Effect

  Faster payments got a boost Friday as Nacha, the governing body for the nation’s automated clearing house network, raised the limit on same-day payments from $25,000 to $100,000. The move follows a similar action earlier this year by The Clearing House Payments Co. for real-time transactions and is expected to …
• 20 March

  Chargeback Gurus Issues Coronavirus Chargeback Guidance and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/20/20

  

  Chargeback Gurus released guidance on the potential for chargebacks as consumers and merchants contend with the effects of the coronavirus infection.Email-security firm Armorblox Inc. said it will provide its services free to companies with between 100 and 2,000 employees until April 30 to help guard against social-engineering attacks exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic.A cryptocurrency …
• 19 March

  Square Wins FDIC And Utah Approvals for Its ILC, Sparking Heated Banking Opposition

  

  The federal government and the state of Utah this week cleared the way for a controversial industrial loan corporation to be set up by Square Inc. that could help the payments company cement ties with its merchant base. But the approvals also drew fierce opposition from banking groups concerned about …
• 19 March

  Electronics Payments Suspends Fees and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/19/20

  

  Electronic Payments Inc. said it will temporarily suspend the monthly support fees for its TableTurn and Exatouch Point of Sale products for three months.JPMorgan Chase & Co. is temporarily closing 1,000 of its bank branches, or 20% of its network, because of Covid-19, according to press reports. The remaining open branches will …
• 18 March

  Womply Data Show How the Coronavirus Has KO’d Many Merchants

  

  New findings from a software and business-services provider that examined what happened at thousands of small businesses last week show the damage the coronavirus, or Covid-19, is inflicting on merchants. San Francisco-based Oto Analytics Inc., which does business as Womply, looked at payment card data from its merchant-acquiring partners, data …
• 18 March

  Familiar Names Dominate New Rankings of U.S. Merchant Acquirers, With Chase Retaining the Lead

  

  JPMorgan Chase & Co. led U.S. merchant acquirers last year with $1.51 trillion in dollar volume processed, according to new industry rankings announced Wednesday by The Strawhecker Group. Long a powerhouse in acquiring, Chase led 2018’s rankings with $1.4 trillion in volume. Retaining second place last year was Worldpay, with …
• 18 March

  Shift4 To Suspend Some Fees, Joining Others in Crafting Ad Hoc SMB Relief Efforts

  

  Payments providers are rallying support for small businesses, especially restaurants and hospitality merchants, contending with the effects of the coronavirus and urgent calls for social distancing. Just Tuesday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered all casinos and other nonessential businesses, such as personal health and beauty businesses, to close for 30 days.  …
• 18 March

  New 7-Eleven Delivery Option and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/18/20

  

  In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, 7-Eleven Inc. said its home-delivery service has added a “contactless” option in which customers can indicate they want the delivery left at the door. The company’s 7NOW delivery app counts more than 30 million enrolled households.MoneyGram International Inc. reported its online transactions grew 60% year-over-year in …
• 17 March

  American Express Expects Revenue Hit From Expanding Coronavirus Impacts

  

  With the nation hunkering down to slow the spread of Covid-19, American Express Co. said Tuesday it expects its first-quarter revenues, adjusted for currency fluctuations, to grow only 2% to 4% year-over-year. In contrast, AmEx’s revenues net of interest expense rose 7% to $10.4 billion in 2019’s first quarter. In …