News

January, 2019

• 4 January

  The Unicorn Herd Enrolled Yet More Fintech Members Last Year Following an Active 2017

  

  The financial news has been full of dire stories about the beating tech stocks have been taking lately, but less well publicized is the action in private equity—specifically the creation of new payments-related unicorns. According to data from New York City-based CB Insights, which tracks private valuations, at least half …
• 4 January

  Marriott Updates Breach Numbers, Says 354,000 Unexpired Cards Compromised

  

  Hotel operator and franchisor Marriott International Inc. reported Friday that 8.6 million encrypted payment card records were compromised in the big data breach it disclosed Nov. 30. Of those, 354,000 cards were unexpired. The card statistics are included in an update Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott issued about the breach of the …
• 4 January

  Mitek Notes More Suitors and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/4/19

  

  Remote deposit capture software provider Mitek Systems Inc. said in a regulatory filing “that it has received expressions of interest from multiple parties” and thus is considering various “strategic alternatives” to maximize shareholder value. The only suitor the filing identified is ASG Technologies Group Inc., a portfolio company of the …
• 3 January

  Processor Stocks Eke Out a 2018 Gain Despite a Bloody Fourth Quarter

  

  It was a nasty December and fourth quarter, but transaction-processor stocks still beat the major market indexes in 2018, according to an analysis by Barrington Research Associates Inc. Twenty-six publicly traded processor stocks posted a mean return of 3.01% for the year versus a negative mean return of 6.24% for …
• 3 January

  A Look Back at 2018’s 10 Most Popular Digital Transactions Posts

  

  Fraud, acquisitions, and interchange dominated the top 10 list of news articles posted to DigitalTransactions.net in 2018. Starting with a $6.2 billion pact between Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., on one hand, and defendant banks, on the other, stemming from 13-year-old litigation over credit card interchange, to American Express Co.’s …
• 3 January

  Credit Card Use Increases and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/3/19

  

  Sixty-two percent of U.S. consumers used a credit card in 2018, up from 60% in 2017, finds a report from Mercator Advisory Group Bestpass Inc., a provider of toll-management services for commercial fleets, said it finished 2018 with 500,000 active transponders in its network of almost 6,000 clients. The fastest …
• 2 January

  All States Now Have Breach-Notification Laws and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/2/19

  

  With the enactment of data-breach notification laws in South Dakota and Alabama in 2018, all 50 states now have such laws, according to the Covington & Burling LLP law firm. Financial-institution processor Fiserv Inc. said the newly chartered Mi Bank in Bloomfield Township, Mich., will use a variety of Fiserv …

December, 2018

• 31 December

  Merchant Crypto-Acceptance API Released and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/31/18

  

  Bits of Gold, said to be one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Israel, has developed an application programming interface that allows merchants to accept cryptocurrency and receive value in the form of U.S. dollars or Israeli shekels. Cybersecurity news outlet The Hacker News said PayPal Holdings Inc. banned without explanation …
• 28 December

  Epazz Spins Off ZenaPay and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/28/18

  

  Chicago-based software developer Epazz Inc. spun off payments subsidiary ZenaPay Inc. as a Canadian corporation that will pursue business in the cannabis market. Citing a study by a British research firm, biometric card manufacturer SmartMetric Inc. says nearly 579 million biometric credit and debit cards will be in use globally …
• 28 December

  How eCommerce SMBs are futureproofing their businesses in the wake of payments evolution

  

  Oscar Nieboer – CMO, Paysafe Group     Security has overtaken reliability and cost as the top priority for businesses when selecting a PSP. Here’s why. There is a genuine belief globally that online goliaths such as Amazon, with the financial and human resources at their disposal to be at …