News

February, 2020

• 4 February

  Fiserv Tugs the Curtain Back a Bit on Early Gains From Its Big First Data Acquisition

  

  Six months after closing on its $22 billion acquisition of First Data Corp., Fiserv Inc. on Tuesday dropped some tantalizing hints about early benefits the deal has generated for the combined company. First Data’s Clover app-based platform for merchant checkouts, for example, saw its gross payment volume grow fully 40% …
• 4 February

  Report: Changes in Visa’s Interchange Rate Schedule Coming This Year

  

  Visa Inc. reportedly is planning interchange rate changes that could raise merchants’ acceptance costs for card-not-present transactions but lower costs in some other categories, including purchases at big grocery-store chains. Citing a Visa document circulating among the network’s client banks, the Bloomberg news service reported Tuesday that interchange for a …
• 4 February

  How the Onset of 5G Could Become a Winning Bet for Mobile Wagering And Payments

  

  One often overlooked market for mobile payments is sports betting, and now some payments providers are wagering that the segment is about to get hot with the ongoing rollout of 5G mobile-network connectivity. “We would urge sports-betting operators to be ready for the increased traffic on their platforms. It’s a …
• 4 February

  A Hedge Fund’s Green Dot Stake and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/4/20

  

  Activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP has taken an approximately 9% stake in prepaid card and banking services provider Green Dot Corp., according to a regulatory filing. Green Dot issued a statement saying it “welcomes transparent, constructive feedback regarding the common goal of enhancing long-term shareholder value.” In the wake of a big …
• 3 February

  POS Terminal Kingpin Ingenico Agrees To Be Acquired by Worldline in an $8.6 Billion Deal

  

  The mega mergers aren’t over yet. In a global move with potentially major implications for the U.S. payments market, Ingenico Group S.A. said it has agreed to be acquired by Worldline S.A. for cash and stock consideration totaling approximately $8.6 billion. The transaction, expected to close in the third quarter, …
• 3 February

  ACH Transactions Rose 8% in 2019 While Payment Value Increased 9%

  The value of payments on the automated clearing house network grew by more than $1 trillion in 2019 for the seventh straight year and transactions increased by more than 1 billion for the fifth consecutive year, ACH governing body Nacha reported Monday. Total payments came to 24.7 billion transactions, up …
• 3 February

  Cornerstone Purchases Move Your Mountain and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/3/20

  

  Cornerstone Payment Systems announced the acquisition of Move Your Mountain, a crowd-funding platform. Terms were not disclosed.Digital cross-border payments provider Remitly Inc. launched Passbook by Remitly, a mobile app aimed at immigrants in the United States that features a no-fee account from Sunrise Banks N.A. and real-time transfers via Visa Inc.’s Visa Direct …

January, 2020

• 31 January

  In Canada, Fast-Growing Debit Gets Further Impetus Via a New Rule That Opens More Acceptance Venues

  

  A new rule took effect this week in Canada that is expected to enable more debit card transactions by opening up venues such as buses, trains, parking meters, and vending machines for acceptance.  The regulation, called Rule E5, comes from Payments Canada, the country’s clearing-and-settlement operator, and amends a prior …
• 31 January

  Square Adds UPS E-Commerce Integration and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/31/20

  

  Small businesses using Square Inc. will be able to use turnkey UPS shipping services integrated into Square Online Store, the acquirer’s e-commerce platform, UPS announced. The Square-UPS deal includes special shipping rates that could be up to 55% off UPS daily rates.Amazon.com Inc. reported it now has more than 150 million Prime members …
• 30 January

  Visa Gets a Lift From E-Commerce, Contactless Payments, and Tokenization

  

  Improved online payments, tokenization, and contactless transactions all gained ground in 2019’s last three months for Visa Inc. as the network’s payment volume grew 8% year-over-year. Visa reported total U.S. payment volume of $1.06 trillion in its first quarter of fiscal 2020 ended Dec. 31, a 7.8% increase from $980 …