Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Visa Inc. reportedly is planning interchange rate changes that could raise merchants’ acceptance costs for card-not-present transactions but lower costs in some other categories, including purchases at big grocery-store chains. Citing a Visa document circulating among the network’s client banks, the Bloomberg news service reported Tuesday that interchange for a …
February, 2020
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4 February
A Hedge Fund’s Green Dot Stake and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/4/20
Activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP has taken an approximately 9% stake in prepaid card and banking services provider Green Dot Corp., according to a regulatory filing. Green Dot issued a statement saying it “welcomes transparent, constructive feedback regarding the common goal of enhancing long-term shareholder value.” In the wake of a big …
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3 February
POS Terminal Kingpin Ingenico Agrees To Be Acquired by Worldline in an $8.6 Billion Deal
The mega mergers aren’t over yet. In a global move with potentially major implications for the U.S. payments market, Ingenico Group S.A. said it has agreed to be acquired by Worldline S.A. for cash and stock consideration totaling approximately $8.6 billion. The transaction, expected to close in the third quarter, …
January, 2020
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31 January
In Canada, Fast-Growing Debit Gets Further Impetus Via a New Rule That Opens More Acceptance Venues
A new rule took effect this week in Canada that is expected to enable more debit card transactions by opening up venues such as buses, trains, parking meters, and vending machines for acceptance. The regulation, called Rule E5, comes from Payments Canada, the country’s clearing-and-settlement operator, and amends a prior …
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31 January
Square Adds UPS E-Commerce Integration and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/31/20
Small businesses using Square Inc. will be able to use turnkey UPS shipping services integrated into Square Online Store, the acquirer’s e-commerce platform, UPS announced. The Square-UPS deal includes special shipping rates that could be up to 55% off UPS daily rates.Amazon.com Inc. reported it now has more than 150 million Prime members …
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30 January
Little Good News for Payments Companies in 2019 Data Breach Report
How will 2019 be remembered for data breaches? Not well. The number of U.S. data breaches tracked by the Identity Theft Resource Center increased to 1,473, a 17% increase from 1,257 in 2018. Drilling into the payments sector, the increase was larger, according to a newly released report from the …
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30 January
‘Is Cash Still King?’ and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/30/20
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Task Force on Financial Technology held a hearing Thursday morning titled “Is Cash Still King? Reviewing the Rise of Mobile Payments.” Witnesses included representatives from PayPal, the U.S. Faster Payments Council, the Brookings Institute, Consumer Reports, and a New York City non-profit dedicated to financial …
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29 January
Visa Will Be the Network for the New Venmo Card As PayPal Gets Set for Growth in China
News emerged Wednesday from PayPal Holdings Inc.’s earnings call that Visa Inc. will serve as the network for a Venmo credit card PayPal announced in October. This development follows by one week PayPal’s announcement that it has struck a deal with UnionPay, China’s payment card giant, to integrate UnionPay cards …
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29 January
Mastercard Reports Strong Volume Growth, but Is Keeping an Eye on the Coronavirus
Mastercard Inc. on Wednesday reported double-digit growth in fourth-quarter purchase volume and transactions, but reduced economic activity from the Coronavirus that originated in China could put a crimp on growth early this year. “We’ll take this as it comes, one step at a time,” Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga said …
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29 January
eBay To Expand Payments Program and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/29/20
EBay Inc. plans to expand its managed-payments program dramatically starting in the second half of next year, officials said Tuesday. Introduced last year, the program depends on a gateway from Adyen NV and now operates in the United States and Germany. “We will go hard at not only the markets that we’re in …