Point-of-sale

March, 2021

• 16 March

  Card Brands Delay Interchange Updates and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/16/21

  

  Responding to pressure from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and other critics, Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. are delaying planned adjustments to their credit card interchange rates until April next year, Bloomberg News reported. The rate adjustments had been set for next month and involved an estimated net $889 million in increased fee income for …
• 15 March

  Debit Use And Contactless Payments Are up After a Year of Covid, PSCU Notes

  

  Debit is the most preferred payment option among consumers and contactless payments have doubled in the year since the declaration of the Covid-19 pandemic. That’s the assessment from the “Tracking Transaction Trends” report for the week ending March 7 from PSCU, a credit union service organization. Debit card spend for …
• 15 March

  ParkMobile Expands in Memphis and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/15/21

  

  Parking-app provider ParkMobile LLC announced an agreement with the city government in Memphis, Tenn., and with parking-lot manager Premium Parking to offer mobile payments for parking on several city blocks in commercial districts, expanding ParkMobile’s presence in the city. Earlier this month, European parking-technology firm EasyPark Group announced its plan to acquire …
• 12 March

  A Deal for Vend Helps an Acquisitive Lightspeed Bulk up As Covid Restrictions Ease

  

  Canadian processor Lightspeed POS Inc. announced Friday it has entered into an agreement to acquire Vend Ltd., a New Zealand-based provider of cloud-based retail management software. The cash and stock deal is valued at $350 million. Lightspeed will pay $192.5 million in cash and issue subordinate voting shares in the …
• 12 March

  Flywire Tenders SEC Filing for Possible IPO and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/12/21

  

  Payments provider Flywire Corp. has submitted a draft registration statement on Form S-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission in support of a proposed initial public offering.The Children of Restaurant Employees nonprofit is meeting pandemic claims from displaced restaurant workers via grant disbursements on gift cards from Blackhawk Network. Prepaid and gift card …
• 11 March

  The Architect of Debit Price Caps Attacks Visa And Mastercard for Planned Credit Card Hikes

  

  The U.S. Senator who gave his name nearly a decade ago to a law that caps debit card interchange made it plain Thursday he now has the rates merchants pay for credit card acceptance squarely in his sights. Commenting during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he heads, …
• 11 March

  A Rollout in Brazil Is Part of MagicCube’s Push for Card Acceptance on Ordinary Phones

  

  As part of its drive to turn off-the-shelf mobile devices into secure point-of-sale terminals using software as opposed to a dongle, MagicCube Inc. announced Thursday that its i-Accept application has expanded to Brazil. Acquiring banks and financial-technology service providers in Brazil can now enable merchants and retailers to accept contactless …
• 10 March

  MerchantE Teams With UnionPay to Boost UnionPay Approval Rates in the U.S.

  

  By linking directly to UnionPay’s SecurePlus two-factor authentication application, digital-commerce platform provider Merchant e-Solutions Inc. expects to significantly reduce decline rates for UnionPay debit card transactions in the United States.  Decline rates are an especially nettlesome issue for UnionPay debit card holders, who account for about 60% of UnionPay’s 9 …
• 10 March

  A Sneak Peek From Visa Shows U.S. Debit Volume Growth Continues As Credit Volume Dips

  

  Visa Inc. said U.S. debit volume increased 31% in January and 16% in February over the comparable 2020 months, while its credit volume dipped 6% and 8%, respectively. In an 8-K filing, Visa, which did not release actual volume data, said for the quarter to date overall U.S. payments volume …
• 10 March

  Hotelier Adds Bitcoin Acceptance and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/10/21

  

  All eight hotels in The Kessler Collection will accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under an agreement with digital-currency processor BitPay Inc. Guests will receive an email, from which they may pay using their crypto wallet.Personas Social Inc. launched its Paysonas payment-processing platform, which supports online real-time debit and Bitcoin.Menufy, a provider of online-ordering …