As 2017 heads toward a close, merger-and-acquisition activity in the merchant-acquiring space is on track to equal or exceed 2016’s number of deals, and buyers are paying more as the pool of quality acquisition targets shrinks. Annapolis, Md.-based First Annapolis Consulting Inc. tells Digital Transactions magazine for its upcoming December issue …
November, 2017
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28 November
InComm Card Available in the ‘Pays’ and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 11/28/17
Research firm comScore Inc. said Thanksgiving e-commerce spending on desktop devices totaled $1.57 billion, a 22% increase from last year. Black Friday spending was $2.36 billion, a 20% increase from 2016. ComScore said 115 million consumers visited online retail sites on Thanksgiving, with 61% of them only visiting using a …
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27 November
A Bullish Market Pushes Bitcoin Past $9,000 As a P2P App for the Digital Currency Emerges
So far, nobody is making any money betting on Bitcoin to crash. The digital currency on Sunday soared past the $9,000 mark just five days after hitting $8,000 for the first time, and the $10,000 level could be in sight as early as later Monday, according to Coindesk, an online …
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27 November
The Signs Point to More Payment Volume for Merchant Acquirers This Holiday Season
Early reports about consumer spending over the long Thanksgiving weekend indicate that merchant processors serving both brick-and-mortar and online merchants can expect more payment volume this year than last. With CyberMonday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, now in full swing, the outlook for online sales is strong if a report from …
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27 November
TD Bank Releases Holiday Shopping Survey and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 11/27/17
On average, U.S. consumers will spend $500 on holiday purchases this season, found the TD Bank Merry Money Holiday Spending Survey. Most consumers could overspend. In the past, 76% of respondents said they overspent their past holiday budgets by an average of $263. Rakuten Marketing said its sales in the …
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26 November
COMMENTARY: How Payments Technology Can Boost Collections Revenue
At a minimum, payment technology should create a path of least resistance for the consumer. Difficulty in settling an outstanding bill means organizations risk missing out on prompt payments. The consumer must be able to move freely between the payment channels they choose. Just because a consumer receives an outstanding …
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22 November
iPayment Buys Leaders Merchant Services and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 11/22/17
Merchant processor iPayment Inc. has agreed to acquire Leaders Merchant Services, an independent sales organization that has worked with iPayment since 2004. Terms were not disclosed. Electronics maker SparkFun Electronics developed an app for Android devices that can detect the likely presence of a credit card skimmer commonly found on …
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21 November
Not Dead Yet: Growth in Cash Outpaces GDP Growth in Many Countries
Despite all the talk about mobile payments, online payments, cryptocurrencies, and EMV chip cards, the alternatives to cash still haven’t killed their sworn enemy. In fact, between 2006 and 2016, the growth of currency in circulation matched or exceeded growth in gross domestic product in 40 of 42 nations examined …
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21 November
Fraud Balloons for Electronics Retailers While Post-EMV Online Fraud Abates, Forter Says
Just days before the holiday shopping season begins in earnest, yet another indicator emerges that merchants, especially those selling electronics, should be ready for the onslaught of both legitimate transactions and those perpetrated by criminals. That’s because the recently released Forter/MRC Fraud Attack Index found that attacks against electronics retailers …
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21 November
Boston’s Transit System To Replace Its CharlieCard With Contactless Fare Payments
Less than a month after winning the contract to bring contactless fare payments to New York City’s vast subway and bus system, Cubic Transportation Systems won a $575 million contract from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to replace the CharlieCard, a fixture in Boston, with a modernized fare system centered …