News

January, 2017

• 19 January

  With Help From Contactless, E-Payments Globally Could Be Taking a Bite out of Cash

  

  The digital-payments revolution may finally be poised to relegate cash to the sidelines of finance. Worldwide, 471 billion so-called cashless transactions flowed through payments networks in 2015, a 52% increase since the end of 2011 and up 13% over 2014, according to numbers released this week by Retail Banking Research …
• 19 January

  Twitter Abandons its Buy Button and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Mastercard Inc. and investor and philanthropist George Soros announced plans “to explore private-sector solutions to societal challenges” by possibly creating a so-called social enterprise called Humanity Ventures that will apply commercial strategies to address such problems as joblessness and lack of access to health care and education. Soros might …
• 19 January

  Western Union Will Pay $586 Million to Settle Feds’ Claims of Lax Anti-Fraud Controls

  

  The Western Union Co. will pay $586 million to the federal government to reimburse consumers victimized by fraud as a result of the company’s allegedly lax supervision of agents and anti-fraud and money-laundering controls. The settlements announced Thursday are a result of investigations that covered payments involving the smuggling of …
• 19 January

  Payment Options And Security Matter, But It’s Price And Shipping Costs That Kill Online Deals

  

  Shipping costs and the total price are two primary inhibitors for consumers shopping online, found a survey from FuturePay Inc., which provides financing for online purchases. Indeed, 86% of the 1,500 consumers surveyed in the fourth quarter cited the cost of shipping as the top reason they opted not to …
• 18 January

  Opinions Vary Greatly About the OCC’s Proposed Fintech Bank Charter

  

  The Electronic Transactions Association went on record Tuesday supporting the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s proposed limited-purpose national bank charter for financial technology companies, but a national trade group of small banks “expressed strong concerns” about the idea. The opinions expressed by the ETA and the Independent Community …
• 18 January

  ACI Makes Real-Time Connections and other Digital Transactions New briefs

  • The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority has accepted in principle a number of proposals Mastercard Inc. has made to dispel concerns the agency expressed earlier this month about the planned $920 million merger of Mastercard and the U.K.-based payments-technology firm VocaLink. The CMA had been concerned that the merger would hand Mastercard …
• 18 January

  Clearent Buying Payment Alliance International’s Merchant Services Division

  

  Payments provider Clearent LLC is buying Payment Alliance International’s merchant-services division, which serves more than 17,000 merchants, for an undisclosed amount, Clearent announced Wednesday. The deal adds $4.2 billion in processing volume to Clearent, pushing the combined entity’s total processing volume to $14 billion and its total number of merchants …
• 17 January

  Retailers Adapt to Growing Consumer Reliance on Mobile Apps, Sites, and Devices

  

  Retailers wondering about the role of smart phones in their stores might take this figure into account: 36% of U.S. shoppers purchase via a mobile device frequently, and consider it a part of their regular purchasing behavior. That’s the finding from a recent DMI Inc. survey. DMI is a Bethesda, …
• 17 January

  iPayment Finalizes Refinancing and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Merchant processor iPayment Inc., along with its parent company iPayment Holdings Inc., announced a refinancing with holders of its senior secured notes that company officials say should result in a “substantial deleveraging” of the company and enable it to add services and products. • Equinox Payments LLC said it supports Android Pay …
• 17 January

  Retail ATM Operator Cardtronics Expands Its Business With Walgreens and Citibank

  

  Leading retail ATM network owner and operator Cardtronics plc announced expanded agreements Tuesday with the big drug-store chain Walgreens and banking giant Citigroup Inc. that will put Citi’s brand on more than 1,000 Cardtronics ATMs in Walgreens and Duane Reade stores in some key markets, including New York City and …