News

April, 2017

• 25 April

  Tying Digital Identity to the Blockchain and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Merchant processor Elavon Inc. announced it has added online storefront technology from 3dcart for e-commerce merchants and online-ordering capability for the talech point-of-sale tablet. • Peer Ledger, a Canadian blockchain company, said a study it conducted shows digital identity can be tied to the blockchain, the technology underlying cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. …
• 25 April

  Data Breaches Fail To Change Consumers’ Usage of Payment Cards, Research Shows

  

  Data breaches are in the news constantly, but they appear to have no long-term effect on consumers’ use of payment methods. Breaches might, however, spur some consumers to switch hospitals, according to researchers. “Payment attitudes and payment behaviors are very, very sticky,” says Claire Greene, a payments analyst at the …
• 25 April

  Retailers Lobby To Save the Durbin Amendment, but the Battle May Already Be Won

  

  Retailers organized by the National Retail Federation and the Merchants Payments Coalition are scheduled to descend on Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to urge Congress to preserve the Durbin Amendment within the ever-controversial Dodd-Frank Act. One close observer of the political and banking scenes, however, believes the amendment will survive despite …
• 24 April

  The CFPB Tweaks Its Prepaid Rule as Showdown Looms Over Its Repeal

  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau confirmed last week that it will extend the effective date of its planned rule governing prepaid accounts by six months, until Oct. 1, and indicated it would consider a further extension. The embattled bureau also said it would revisit “at least two substantive issues” in …
• 24 April

  Global Payments Renews Caesars Contract and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Payment technology provider ACI Worldwide Inc. said it will make its UP Immediate Payments service available to financial institutions and credit unions of all sizes. • Merchant processor Global Payments Inc. renewed its contract with Caesars Entertainment Corp. • In a Mastercard Inc. promotion, consumers who use a Mastercard credit, debit, or prepaid card at a …
• 24 April

  With Same-Day ACH Debits Coming, Experts Ask for Higher Limits, More ‘Windows’

  Firms and financial institutions that have been using the automated clearing house network’s new same-day settlement system are generally upbeat about it, but the new regime is being implemented in phases, and the next phase, due in September, brings with it some misgivings. That’s when ACH debits will start to …
• 21 April

  With Technology From Ripple, BBVA Completes a Real-Time Cross-Border Money Transfer

  

  While entities such as the Federal Reserve and the automated clearing house work out methods for faster payments, financial institutions are also investigating the blockchain for real-time money movement. That concept took a step toward reality with an announcement Friday by Spain’s BBVA that it had completed what it says …
• 21 April

  A Canadian Car-Services Operator Chooses Contactless-Only Payments

  

  Unattended tire-inflation and vacuum services for cars long have accepted credit and debit cards as well as cash. Now, one provider, Irving, Texas-based AIR-serv, is taking that a step further by making contactless payments the sole option at more than 6,500 locations throughout Canada. Payments provider MONEXGroup says it is …
• 21 April

  Santander Adds Apple Pay Support and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Santander Bank N.A. announced it is now supporting Apple Pay for its Mastercard credit and debit cards. • Healthy Solutions for Pets, a pet-supplement company, has hired Orderhouse to build an e-commerce store. Orderhouse’s services include technology, fulfillment, and payments. • Vantiv Inc. will provide ATM and debit and credit card processing …
• 21 April

  Tripling in One Year, Visa Chip Card Transactions Surpass 1 Billion in March

  

  The seemingly plodding U.S. migration to the EMV chip card standard may not be so plodding after all. Visa Inc., in data released Friday, says consumers made 1 billion Visa chip card transactions in March, a tripling of the 303.3 million in March 2016. The number of transactions has steadily …