News

February, 2019

• 19 February

  Apple Pay Adoption Reaches 43% of iPhone Users, Up From 36% Just Five Months Ago

  

  Apple Pay adoption show no signs of abating, with an estimated 43% of iPhone users across the globe enabling the mobile-payments service, says Loup Ventures LLC in a research note released Tuesday. That’s up from 36% in September and 20% in December 2017. Other estimates from the Minneapolis-based venture-capital firm …
• 19 February

  ATM Deployer Paramount Makes Acquisition and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/19/19

  

  ATM and payment-services provider Paramount Management Group LLC acquired CAI—The ATM Company, an independent deployer with thousands of ATMs in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and other states. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. A partnership between Transaction Network Services and P97 Networks has processed in-dash fuel payments for …
• 18 February

  ATM Trade Groups Work Together in Push for Bank Access

  

  Two ATM trade groups said Monday they are working together to assure their members get access to banking services in what the associations believe is a risk-averse financial climate. The National ATM Council Inc. and the ATM Industry Association said they signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly develop a …
• 18 February

  Eye on Cryptocurrency: Demise of a Visa Card; Crypto for Truck Parts; a Calmer Bitcoin

  

  A Visa-branded debit card from Shift Financial Inc. that enabled consumers with accounts at digital currency exchange Coinbase to spend based on funds held in their Coinbase accounts reportedly will cease operations in April, said the CoinTelegraph.com news site. The card, issued by Metropolitan Commercial Bank, reportedly faced a limited …
• 18 February

  A Coming Boom in Voice Commerce? and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/18/19

  

  Voice commerce accounted for only 1% of U.S. online purchases last year, but is projected to grow to 5% by 2023, research firm Euromonitor International said. Research and consulting firm Mercator Advisory Group released the “Securing E-Commerce: Competing Technology Crowds the Market” report that examines e-commerce fraud and measures and …
• 18 February

  COMMENTARY: Tired of Payments Fraud? Maybe It’s Time to Give Blockchain a Try

  

  On the heels of a robust holiday shopping season come some sobering statistics. The recently released 2018 “True Cost of Fraud” study by LexisNexis Risk Solutions shows a 35% increase in fraud for midsize to large e-retailers over 2017. In the retail sector, the monthly average of fraudulent transactions jumped to 306 from …
• 15 February

  Chase’s New Token Is Strictly Intrabank, And Won’t Be Coming to Consumers Any Time Soon

  

  For years, banking and payments veterans have dismissed cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin but at the same time have shown interest in the digital currencies’ underlying technology, the blockchain. Now one of the world’s biggest banking titans is testing its own blockchain-based token, but its restriction of the system to its own …
• 15 February

  Do Cashless-Payment Policies Create a ‘Segregated Purchasing System’?

  

  New Jersey’s legislature this month passed a bill requiring merchants to accept cash at the point of sale, and several big cities, including New York, are considering similar measures. But does cash really need legal protection from payment cards and mobile wallets? That’s the question public officials as well as …
• 15 February

  Wendy’s Announces $50 Million Data Breach Settlement and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/15/19

  

  Hamburger chain The Wendy’s Co. announced a $50 million settlement of class-action lawsuits filed against it after a data breach that began in 2015. The 7,500 bank and credit-union plaintiffs alleged the breach was caused by malware that affected point-of-sale systems at more than 1,000 franchised Wendy’s locations. Some 18 …
• 14 February

  Supermarket Kingpin Kroger Debuts Kroger Pay And a Rewards Debit Card

  

  Cincinnati-based grocery giant The Kroger Co. has launched a proprietary mobile-payments service, Kroger Pay, and an accompanying Kroger Rewards debit card. Kroger Pay, available for iOS and Android mobile devices, is a quick-response code-based mobile-payment service, which also includes digital coupons and personalized offers. Kroger Pay, like some other retailer-backed mobile-payments services, …