The Kroger Co. lifted its acceptance ban on Visa credit cards at its Smith’s Food & Drug and Foods Co subsidiaries, according to news reports. Kroger, citing what it called high acceptance costs, first banned the cards at its small Foods Co chain in August 2018 and extended it to the larger Smith’s …
October, 2019
-
29 October
Mastercard’s Top and Bottom Lines Benefit as Transaction Volume Jumps 20%
Mastercard Inc. switched 20% more transactions on its worldwide network in the third quarter than it did a year earlier as purchase volumes remained strong and new growth markets generated more payments. “Growth was broad-based,” Mastercard president and chief executive Ajay Banga said Tuesday morning during the company’s third-quarter earnings …
-
29 October
Uber Money Debuts and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/29/19
Ride-share provider Uber Technologies Inc. announced Uber Money, an update to its roster of financial services, mostly for its drivers. Among the products is the relaunch of the Uber credit card in a deal with Barclays. Uber Money also can provide Uber drivers real-time access to their earnings in an Uber Debit …
-
28 October
UPDATED: Eye on Amazon: Alexa Will Pay Your Bills
Amazon.com Inc.’s payments ambitions continue to manifest themselves with Monday’s announcement that Paymentus Corp. will enable bill payment and management via Amazon’s voice-controlled Alexa devices. Charlotte, N.C.-based Paymentus said billers on the Paymentus Instant Payment Network will be able to offer consumers a way to link their utility accounts to …
-
28 October
COMMENTARY: Three Huge Misconceptions Business Owners Have About Payment Solutions
Owners of small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) generally have a negative outlook on the payments industry, and for good reason. The merchant-services world, in particular, has an ugly track record, including lackluster customer support, not to mention misleading sales practices that lead to costly processing rates, hidden fees, and burdensome …
-
28 October
Four Merging ISOs Adopt Payroc Name and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/28/19
Days after Nxgen and Payscape announced they were merging with a third payments provider, BluePay Canada, the new entity said it has agreed to combine with a fourth company, Payroc LLC, and adopt the Payroc name. James Oberman, Payroc’s chief executive, will serve as CEO of the merged entity.Discover Financial Services said it now …
-
25 October
Nxgen, Payscape, And BluePay Canada Combine to Form a Processor Serving 25,000-Plus Merchants
This year’s mega-mergers in the transaction-processing business are now starting to generate some smaller spin-off deals. On Friday, two payments providers, Nxgen International and Payscape, said they have acquired a third, BluePay Canada. Terms of the deal were not announced, and an overarching name for the tripartite company has not …
-
24 October
Kabbage Payments Debuts and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/24/19
Kabbage Inc. launched Kabbage Payments, a payments service for small businesses. Kabbage provides merchant lending and uses a payment-facilitator model for the Kabbage Payments subsidiary.American Express Co. revamped its 50-year-old Green Card with a new suite of benefits and rewards. Now called Green from Amex, the card’s fee is $150, up from …
-
23 October
How PayPal Plans to Leverage Its Newly Won Foothold in Online Payments in China
Top management at PayPal Holdings Inc. made it clear Wednesday the company will continue to hunt for acquisitions and intends to leverage its recently won clearance to acquire a 70% stake in China’s Guofubao Information Technology Co. Ltd., better known as GoPay. The Chinese venture, in which PayPal will become …
-
23 October
Apple Pay Bucks Starbucks From the Top of the Mobile-Payments Heap
The number of Apple Pay users has surpassed that of the Starbucks mobile-payments service, says eMarketer Inc., marking the first time a general-purpose mobile app has become more popular than the coffee retailer’s. New York City-based eMarketer counted 30.3 million U.S. Apple Pay users, while Starbucks had 25.2 million users. …