News

February, 2017

• 1 February

  Remote Fraud Set To Dethrone Counterfeiting

  Counterfeiting is still the king of U.S. payment card fraud, according to the Federal Reserve’s recently released Payments Study 2016, but probably not for long thanks in part to the coming of EMV chip cards and the aftereffects of data breaches. Counterfeit fraud accounted for 44% of U.S. payment card …

January, 2017

• 31 January

  Mastercard Expects To Continue Growing Despite Political Turbulence in the U.S.

  

  Mastercard Inc.’s key operating and financial metrics all grew in the fourth quarter, and president and chief executive Ajay Banga on Tuesday said he expects them to continue growing despite the political turbulence created by President Donald Trump’s new administration. In the United States, total fourth-quarter credit and debit card …
• 31 January

  iPayment Revises Financial Deal and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Merchant acquirer Square Inc. announced a promotion that waives processing costs for small businesses on more than $12,000 in Apple Pay charge volume. It will give free processing on Apple Pay transactions for small-business customers that enroll this year in a promotion that includes purchase of Square’s contactless and EMV chip card reader …
• 31 January

  Apple Reports Record iPhone Sales And Hints at Strong Growth for Apple Pay Globally

  

  Apple Inc. reported record quarterly sales Tuesday for its iPhone smart-phone models while chief executive Tim Cook briefly sketched a strong quarter and year for Apple Pay, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer company’s mobile-payments service. Speaking to analysts in an afternoon earnings call to discuss Apple’s results for the three months …
• 30 January

  Momentum Is Building for Mobile Wallets Overseas—And Also in the U.S., Report Says

  

  Mobile wallets have struggled in the United States to win consumer adoption and usage, but worldwide the technology is growing smartly. And even in the U.S. market, it’s expected to pick up momentum. That’s according to a report issued Monday by U.K.-based Juniper Research. The firm estimates global payments volume …
• 30 January

  Eye on Mobile: Vantiv To Resell CardFlight mPOS; USAePay Cinches Certifications

  

  Merchant processor Vantiv Inc. has agreed to offer a mobile point-of-sale platform from CardFlight Inc. The platform, called SwipeSimple, includes an EMV reader, a mobile app for iOS and Android, and a back-office reporting portal. New York-based CardFlight says the devices will be co-branded with Vantiv’s branding and will be …
• 30 January

  Green Dot May Be Interested in UniRush and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Bloomberg reported that prepaid card services provider Green Dot Corp. is in talks to buy UniRush, a smaller competitor co-founded by Russell Simmons, the music-industry entrepreneur behind the rap label Def Jam. • In another possible deal, U.K.-based accounting and payroll software firm Sage Group plc is mulling a sale of its U.S. …
• 30 January

  Eye on Apple Pay: Analytics Firm IDs Leading Merchants

  

  A San Francisco analytics company with access to transaction data on 3 million consumer credit and debit cards says usage of Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payment service rose steadily in 2016. TXN Solutions Inc. also says that among brick-and-mortar merchants Apple Pay usage is highest at New York City-area pharmacy …
• 30 January

  Adding Scale And Payroll Cards, Green Dot Pays $147 Million Upfront for UniRush

  

  Prepaid card specialist Green Dot Corp. has agreed to buy rival UniRush LLC in a deal valued at a minimum of $147 million and expected to close by the end of March. Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot, perhaps best known for managing Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s MoneyCard operation, said the deal will …
• 27 January

  More Than 400 Million Visa EMV Cards Issued and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Coffee giant Starbucks Corp. reported its Mobile Order and Pay feature, which allows customers to order and pay on their mobile phone and then pick up the order later without waiting, accounted for 7% of all transactions in U.S. company-operated stores in the fourth quarter, up from 3% a year earlier. …