An executive order by President Donald Trump banning a pair of major Chinese payments apps comes in the waning days of his administration and may leave more questions than it answers, observers say. The order, issued Tuesday, prohibits transactions on eight China-based apps, including the hugely popular Alipay and WeChat …
January, 2021
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6 January
Qualpay Adds Google Pay Support and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/6/21
Payments platform Qualpay said it is now supporting Google Pay transactions in recognition of increasing consumer usage of mobile wallets.Payments-technology provider Cardknox launched a beta version of its partner portal, intended for the use of sales partners and independent sales vendors to onboard and manage merchant-processing accounts.Digital-payments provider Payrailz has launched Action Insights, a service intended …
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5 January
PayPal Wins Its Lawsuit Against the CFPB, But the Legal Wrangling Is Far From Over
PayPal Holdings Inc. may have prevailed in its lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over the CFPB’s rules pertaining to prepaid cards and digital wallets, but the overarching legal battle is likely to continue. The ruling, which was handed down Dec. 30 by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon and …
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5 January
Mobile Wallet Use up and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/5/21
In the week before and the week of Christmas, consumers markedly increased their use of mobile wallets, with mobile wallets loaded with a debit card increasing 79.2% from the same weeks a year ago, according to the Tracking Transaction Trends report from PSCU, a credit union service organization. Use of mobile …
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4 January
Afterpay Average Ticket Increases 30% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/4/21
Buy now, pay later provider Afterpay Ltd. said users’ average ticket increased 30% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2019.Affirm Inc. completed its acquisition of PayBright, a buy now, pay later provider in Canada.PayPal Holdings Inc. announced a check cashing feature for select Venmo app users. This enables them to have funds …
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4 January
Digital Transactions’ 2020 Top 10 Countdown
Count down the 10 most popular stories published in the Digital Transactions News daily newsletter in 2020. #10 Processor Paya Will Go Public Via a So-Called SPAC Merger (Aug. 3) #9 Feeling Heat, Square Explains Its New Reserve Policy (June 23) #8 After Beating Wells Fargo Twice in Court, USAA …
December, 2020
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31 December
Bitcoin at 4X Value at Year’s End and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/31/20
Bitcoin, the world’s largest and most well-known digital currency, is ending the year above $28,000, a quadrupling of its value since the start of 2020. Its market capitalization as of Dec. 30 is $536 billion, up from $133 billion at Jan. 2.RevoluGroup Canada Inc. has launched the RevoluEX Cryptocurrency Exchange that …
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28 December
E-Commerce Sales up 49% This Fall from 2019 and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/28/20
Retail sales, excluding the automotive and gasoline categories, grew 3% in the Oct. 11 to Dec. 24 period year-over-year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. E-commerce sales volume grew 49% in the same period compared to the year-ago period.Some Walmart stores in north Alabama stopped accepting credit cards when the stores’ Internet service failed owing …
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24 December
COMMENTARY: How Merchants Are Methodically Moving Issuing Under Their Tent
Little by little and step by step, merchants have been taking tighter control over their payments businesses. No longer merely the endpoint in a cardholder’s lifecycle, merchants are leveraging fintech in ways not possible just a few short years ago. This is why we’re seeing the big fintech-centric acquirers like …
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24 December
MoneyGram To Monitor SEC’s Ripple Lawsuit and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/24/20
MoneyGram International Inc. said it is will “continue to monitor for any potential impact” from a recent lawsuit against cryptocurrency payments firm Ripple Labs and two top executives by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. MoneyGram has used Ripple’s foreign exchange blockchain since June 2019 to trade in four currencies, though the company …