News

June, 2019

• 25 June

  Pineapple Payments Acquires Card Champ and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/25/19

  

  Independent sales organization Pineapple Payments announced it acquired rival Card Champ. Both ISOs are based in Pittsburgh. Terms were not disclosed. Diebold Nixdorf Inc. released the DN Series of ATMs. Diebold said 18 financial institutions in 13 nations are testing the machines. Payment Data Systems Inc. changed its name to …
• 24 June

  Will Facebook’s Big User Numbers Be Enough to Catapult Calibra?

  

  Facebook Inc. has said it will turn over control of its Libra cryptocurrency initiative to a consortium of companies that will constitute the Libra Association. But one related property the massive social network will retain, albeit as an arm’s-length subsidiary, is its new Calibra unit, which will run Facebook’s own …
• 24 June

  Fiat Chrysler USA Is the Latest To Offer an In-Dash Market With a Payments Capability

  

  FCA USA LLC, the automaker behind Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram vehicles, will offer the Uconnect Market as part of its in-dash infotainment systems beginning later this year, the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company announced Monday. The new service, which will deploy in the second half of the year as an …
• 24 June

  Sezzle Enters Canada and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/24/19

  

  Point-of-sale installment-loan provider Sezzle Inc. said its service is now available at “thousands” of online stores in Canada. SSI Group, a provider of payments-related software for the health-care industry, announced a capability that relies on machine learning to predict when providers will receive payments from payers. In related news, U.S. …
• 24 June

  COMMENTARY: Artificial Intelligence Should Be the Next Big Payments Push

  

  When we think about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the first image that comes to mind might be a chess-playing computer or a driverless car. In addition to such futuristic applications, these cutting-edge technologies are already changing and enhancing many aspects of our day-to-day lives, including how we make …
• 21 June

  Bill Ready, a Key Player in PayPal’s Rise, To Leave Company by Year’s End

  

  PayPal Holdings Inc. announced late Thursday that its chief operating officer William J. “Bill” Ready will leave by the end of 2019 after six years with the online-payments leader. The unexpected departure of its number 2 executive cast some uncertainty over San Jose, Calif.-based PayPal. In mid-morning trading, its stock …
• 21 June

  American Cash Exchange Strikes Ria Deal and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/21/19

  

  American Cash Exchange Inc. said its Poni operation struck a deal with Euronet Worldwide Inc.’s Ria money-transfer unit that enables consumers in Mexico to withdraw cash from U.S.-originated remittances at nearly 50,000 Mexican ATMs without paying fees after they buy and register a Poni Cash Card, which costs 10 pesos …
• 21 June

  Eye on Security: California Is the Golden State for Data Breaches; Florida City Pays Bitcoin Ransom

  

  A new analysis of 10 years’ worth of figures on data breaches reveals that California by far holds the dubious distinction of suffering the most breaches as well as leaking the most records. Meanwhile, a Florida city has agreed to pay hackers about $600,000 in Bitcoin to be released from …
• 20 June

  Tariff Pressure Takes Aim at Payment Equipment Once Again

  

  While legislators and regulators focused much of their attention on the Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency this week, tariffs on Chinese-made goods re-emerged in Washington as a threat that could raise prices for merchants and merchant acquirers. The Electronic Transactions Association payments trade group filed comments with the Office of the United States …
• 20 June

  Eye on the Point of Sale: Shopify’s New Features; Casio’s Pay-At-Table Software

  

  Shopify Inc. late on Tuesday announced a slew of services aimed at significantly broadening the support the Ottawa, Ontario-based provider offers to small and mid-size merchants. Among these are new point-of-sale software, a fulfillment network, and new checkout-integrated subscription-payment support. The fulfillment network is a first-of-its-kind offering for Shopify, the company …