News

July, 2018

• 23 July

  Cryptocurrency ‘Has Legs,” Payroc Says, So It’s Moving Toward a Merchant Acceptance Rollout Later This Year

  

  Issues like price volatility, pokey transaction times, and sheer reputational risk have left many processors and independent sales organizations on the sidelines when it comes to cryptocurrency acceptance. Many, but not all. The latest entrant, and the largest so far, in this nascent market is Payroc LLC, which later this …
• 23 July

  CardFlight in Boomtown Distribution Deal and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/23/18

  

  Payscout announced it purchased Paywire Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Payscout said it will expand Paywire’s education and health-care payments products to its merchants. Paywire’s tools consolidate payment software systems to reduce the scope of compliance and enhance security, Payscout said. Mobile point-of-sale specialist CardFlight Inc. lined up another distribution …
• 20 July

  Blockchain Startup MakeCents Tests a Payments Platform It Says Bypasses Networks

  

  With hopes of providing merchants with a lower-cost network to make and accept electronic payments, startup MakeCents announced Friday a test of its blockchain-based platform. New York City-based MakeCents says its decentralized platform is designed to “disrupt the $420 trillion global payments infrastructure by leveraging its blockchain technology to connect …
• 20 July

  Washlava Expands and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/20/18

  

  Washlava, a mobile-payments provider for laundromats, opened its second app-enabled laundromat, in New York City’s Queens borough. Washlava’s first such location opened in 2017 in Tampa, Fla. Payments provider Century Business Solutions announced an integration with Limo Anywhere, a point-of-sale software developer for the livery and limousine industry. Users of …
• 19 July

  Blockchain Investments To Grow by More Than 70% Annually, Researcher Predicts

  

  Global investment in blockchain technology will double this year compared to 2017, reaching $1.5 billion, according to a new report from International Data Corp. Investment will increase over the next five years at an annual rate of 73.2%, Framingham, Mass.-based IDC forecasts, reaching $11.7 billion in 2022. “Enthusiasm for blockchain …
• 19 July

  Walmart Shoppers More Likely To Use Apple Pay In Walmart Than Walmart Pay

  

  Walmart Inc. shoppers apparently aren’t as loyal to the giant retailer’s own mobile-payment service as they are to Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay. That’s one takeaway from the latest Mobile Pay Tracker from Auriemma Consulting Group. New York City-based ACG found that Walmart shoppers who use Apple Pay and have a …
• 19 July

  Fattmerchant Secures $10.5 Million in Funding and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  

  Sundance Payment Solutions launched this month, said president Eric Barth. The company works with independent sales agents to sell a suite of payment-processing services. Payments provider Fattmerchant announced it has closed on a $10.5 million Series C funding round led by Fulcrum Equity Partners. The funding will help launch new …
• 18 July

  American Express Posts a 10% Gain in Card-Billed Business in the Second Quarter

  

  Fresh from its victory in the U.S. Supreme Court, American Express Co. on Wednesday said card-billed business in the more mature U.S. market and its international markets both grew by 10% in the second quarter. New York City-based AmEx reported a total of $296.5 billion in card-billed business versus $269.6 …
• 18 July

  To Fight Skimming, a Major Credit Union Servicer Adds a Cardless ATM Program

  

  The days of dipping a card into an ATM to withdraw cash may not be as frequent for even more consumers with the announcement Wednesday that Co-Op Financial Services launched its Cardless Cash Access service. Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based Co-Op, a credit-union service organization, says the service can be used on …
• 18 July

  Merchant Acquiring Contributes to U.S. Bancorp’s Payment Services Gain

  U.S. Bancorp’s Payment Services unit posted a 28% gain in net income in the second quarter, in part due to higher merchant-processing volumes. The unit, one of five major divisions at the Minneapolis-based super-regional bank, produced a $361 million profit versus $282 million a year earlier, or 21% of the …