News

February, 2018

• 14 February

  As Players Jockey for Position, Faster Payments Will Total $650 Billion This Year

  

  Last year, the Federal Reserve set a goal of having ubiquitous faster payments available in the United States by 2020, and now the first estimates are emerging of just how much dollar volume will flow across systems already in place and in progress. The total will come to $650 billion …
• 14 February

  Eye on Online Payments: Groupon+ Snags 2.7 Million Cardholders; Western Union’s Online P2P Volume Rises 22%

  

  Online and mobile offers provider Groupon Inc. reported Wednesday that 2.7 million Visa and Mastercard card holders are using its new Groupon+ service to get discounts at restaurants without presenting a voucher. And wire-transfer provider The Western Union Co. says its online consumer-to-consumer payment transactions rose 22% in the fourth …
• 14 February

  Diebold Nixdorf Reports Mixed Results and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/14/18

  

  Fourth-quarter hardware sales for ATM and banking and retail-payment equipment manufacturer Diebold Nixdorf Inc. fell 11% year over year to $473.2 million, but software and services revenues rose 19% and 7%, respectively, the company reported. Credit card balances hit $834 billion in the fourth quarter, up 7% from $779 billion …
• 13 February

  Payfone Continues To Attract Investment From Payments Companies, This Time Synchrony Financial

  

  Mobile-authentication technology provider Payfone Inc. has raised another $23 million in a new funding round that included retail card payment services provider Synchrony Financial. The exact investment from Synchrony Ventures, Synchrony Financial’s venture-capital arm, wasn’t disclosed in Tuesday’s announcement. An undisclosed institutional investor led the funding round. In addition to …
• 13 February

  Cumberland Farms Adds Biometric Support to Its Fuel-Payment App

  

  Convenience-store operator Cumberland Farms Inc. updated its SmartPay Check-Link mobile app with biometric authentication and the ability to enroll in the program within the app, the Westborough, Mass.-based company announced Monday. The app, which launched in 2013, gives users a 10-cent discount per gallon of gas when they use it …
• 13 February

  A Startup Enlists E-ZPass for Car-Based Payments Away From Toll Booths

  

  A Boston-based startup on Tuesday announced a service that lets holders of E-ZPass transponders pay for such things as car washes, gasoline, and drive-through items from their cars. Under an agreement with the E-ZPass Group, Verdeva Inc.’s PayByCar service will start a pilot program that lets users create an account …
• 13 February

  Albuquerque Airport Vendor Adding Self-Service Kiosks and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/13/18

  

  Fresquez Companies, operator of nine restaurants at the Albuquerque International Sunport airport, announced it is replacing its vending machines with unattended kiosks for food and other products that use weight-sensing shelves from ShelfX Inc. to determine a consumer’s product selection. Consumers swipe a payment card to unlock the kiosk. Payment …
• 12 February

  First Data’s Prepaid Business Shines as Struggling Bank Joint Ventures Begin Turnaround

  

  First Data Corp.’s struggling merchant-acquiring joint ventures with three big banks are showing nascent signs of a turnaround, and business is booming in the company’s prepaid card unit, top executives reported Monday. The Atlanta-based processor reported last year that new merchant referrals from its big joint ventures with The PNC …
• 12 February

  COMMENTARY: Five Key Trends in Payments to Watch for As 2018 Unfolds

  

  As the new year eases well into its second month, here are five important technology developments that will shake up key payments markets in 2018. B2B payments will finally go digital Perhaps further behind in the fintech curve than they should be are business-to-business payments. This is often attributed to …
• 12 February

  YapStone Raises $71 Million and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/12/18

  

  Card-data analytics company Cardlytics, which went public Friday, was trading at nearly $16 a share at mid-morning Monday, up 18% on the day to that point. The stock is up 30% since its debut. YapStone, which processes payments for apartment and vacation rentals, announced the first closing in a Series …