News

July, 2018

• 30 July

  Buoyed by Its ISV Strategy, First Data Eyes a Joint-Venture Resurgence

  Processor First Data Corp.’s strategy of providing payments integration to independent software vendors appears to be yielding results. The Atlanta-based company said it signed 94 ISVs in the second quarter. That, along with good growth in its direct-sales channel, contributed to the 17.1% growth in second-quarter revenue in First Data’s …
• 30 July

  Contactless Payments Forecast and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/30/18

  

  Joe Kaplan, the chief executive of merchant processor Paya and former president of the Electronic Transactions Association’s board of directors, died unexpectedly last week, the ETA announced. Kaplan was the former CEO of Total Merchant Services and founded Innovative Merchant Solutions, which he sold to Intuit Inc. in 2003 and …
• 27 July

  ISOs Urged To Begin Thinking Beyond Pure Profit

  

  The independent sales organization business is one that has spawned multimillion-dollar fortunes for numerous entrepreneurs. But perhaps it’s time for the industry to begin thinking beyond pure profit, merchant-acquiring executives suggested Thursday. The executives participated in a panel dubbed “Payments Doing Good” at the MidWest Acquirers Association annual conference in …
• 27 July

  Reports Show How Fast P2P Payments Are Growing for Bank And Nonbank Providers

  

  Long an afterthought in payments, peer-to-peer transfers are top-of-mind in the industry just now, and this week three reports emerged to show just how fast the payment type is growing for bank and nonbank networks alike. The bank-owned Zelle network processed 100 million transactions totaling $28 billion in the three …
• 27 July

  Volume Jumps 14% for Discover’s Payment Services Unit

  

  The Pulse debit network, Diners Club International, and the network partners of Discover Financial Services collectively generated $57.3 billion in second-quarter volume, a 14% increase from a year earlier, Discover reported Thursday. Pulse, the biggest of the three units in Discover’s Payment Services segment, posted $44.3 billion in volume, up …
• 27 July

  Stripe Enters Issuing and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/27/18

  

  Processor Stripe launched Stripe Issuing, a platform to aid merchants creating their own credit and debit cards. The service enables developers and businesses to create physical or virtual cards with a single application programming interface call to the platform. Stripe said it is not issuing cards directly to consumers. Physical cards …
• 26 July

  In a Bid To Spur Order-Ahead Restaurant Sales, Grubhub Pays $390 Million for LevelUp

  

  Restaurant-services specialist LevelUp is being sold to Grubhub Inc. for $390 million. Announced Wednesday, the deal weds Boston-based LevelUp, with its expertise in digital ordering, payment, and loyalty, with Grubhub’s online and mobile food-ordering services. Chicago-based Grubhub also owns the Seamless, Eat24, AllMenus, and MenuPages brands. The deal is an …
• 26 July

  Mastercard Profit Jumps 33% as U.S. and Global Volumes Grow

  

  Mastercard Inc. posted a 33% increase in second-quarter profit as its worldwide purchase volumes rose nearly 16% and U.S. volume grew 10.5%. New business wins, including cobranded cards, and more customers for existing products drove the higher numbers. “We continue to make excellent progress with cobrands,” Mastercard chief executive Ajay …
• 26 July

  PayPal Looks to Cash in on P2P And Stresses It’s Shopping for More Acquisitions

  

  Person-to-person payments are hot these days, and PayPal Holdings Inc. has one of the hottest products in the market with its Venmo service. But as PayPal revealed Wednesday, Venmo can create some friction for its parent even as it vitally expands its payments business. PayPal reported $14.2 billion in payment …
• 26 July

  Dunkin’ Brands Broadens CardFree License and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/26/18

  

  Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. expanded its licensing agreement with CardFree Inc., the technology provider for the Dunkin’ Donuts mobile app. The deal includes a perpetual license to the CardFree software and greater control over the mobile-payments technology. Dunkin’ Brands also is licensed to use the technology for future services, including …