News

September, 2019

• 30 September

  As Real-Time Payments Rivalry Heats up, Vendors Eye Market Niches And Mid-Tier Institutions

  

  With The Clearing House Payments Co. operating a real-time payments network and the Federal Reserve planning one for no later than 2024, payments companies are looking at slices of the market for opportunities in instant money movement. And these niche plays aren’t just the province of the country’s biggest banks. …
• 30 September

  New York Sues Dunkin’ Over Breach and other Digital Transactions News Briefs from 9/30/19

  

  The New York attorney general is suing Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. for allegedly violating the state’s data-breach notification act by failing to notify nearly 20,000 customers that their Dunkin’ accounts had been compromised in a series of brute force cyberattacks beginning in 2015. Hackers also gained unauthorized access to more than 300,000 accounts in …
• 30 September

  COMMENTARY: Here’s Why the Fed Should Stay Out of Real-Time Payments (Part II)

  

  Tech behemoths Google, Amazon, and Apple, goliath retailers Walmart and Target, and PayPal, all support the Federal Reserve providing faster payments via its FedNow service, slated for introduction by 2024. Each of them, however, would howl in protest if Washington proposed competing with their business or helping would-be competitors. Fearing The Clearing …
• 27 September

  TSYS-Global Merger ‘Best of the Bunch’ and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/27/19

  

  The recently completed acquisition of Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) by Global Payments Inc. is “the best of the bunch” among the three megamergers in the payment-processing industry this year, investment research firm Morningstar Inc. says in a new report. The Global-TSYS deal “has the most capacity to reduce costs …
• 27 September

  COMMENTARY: Here’s Why the Fed Should Stay Out of Real-Time Payments (Part I)

  

  The Fed has amassed enormous—in practice, unaccountable—power, and taken roles natural to government and to the private sector. It’s the central bank, paramount financial-system regulator, and a payments operator. It shouldn’t, however, undertake activities better and naturally performed in the private sphere.  The latest example: On its own prerogative, the …
• 26 September

  How Fiserv’s First Data Deal Cemented Its Long-Term Payments Strategy

  

  Fiserv Inc.’s acquisition of First Data Corp. this year was the first of a trio of big mergers that has made 2019 the year of the megadeals in payments. On Thursday, a key Fiserv executive close to the action explained how the $22-billion acquisition served as the capstone to a …
• 26 September

  Eye on Crypto: Libra a ‘Wake-up Call;’ Crypto.com Debuts E-Commerce Plugin

  

  Policymakers have much work ahead when reviewing cryptocurrencies like the proposed Libra, a European regulator said Wednesday. In related news, a cryptocurrency payment plugin debuts for WordPress. The Libra cryptocurrency project led by Facebook Inc. has “undoubtedly been a wake-up call for central banks and policymakers,” said Benoit Coeure, a …
• 26 September

  AmEx Issues Contactless Guide and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/26/19

  

  American Express Co. posted an online guide for consumers about contactless cards. Beginning in July of 2019, all newly issued AmEx consumer and small-business cards are contactless-enabled, and starting next month all newly issued corporate cards will be contactless-enabled.P97 Networks, a provider of mobile payments and rewards programs for petroleum retailers, …
• 25 September

  ATM Deployers’ Suit Against Visa and Mastercard Resumes With Class-Certification Request

  

  One of the longest-running antitrust lawsuits in the payments industry is getting into gear again with a new request by independent ATM deployers for class certification in their action against Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. The National ATM Council Inc. (NAC) trade group and 13 ATM independent sales organizations originally …
• 25 September

  In This Mega Merger Landscape, Is Your ISO with a Processor or a Partner? What To Ask and Why It Matters

  By: John Newton, Vice President of Sales, Strategic Partner Channel, First American Mega mergers have created enormous financial technology companies with scope and reach that far exceed the needs of a traditional ISO channel. As a result, ISOs are now just one of many drivers of new merchant acquisition and …