Prepaid Cards

U.S. merchants achieved higher performance scores for their gift card programs in 2025, according to Blackhawk Network’s eighth annual review of the programs. Staples Inc. led all merchants with a score of 104%, followed by Amazon.com with a score of 101% and Best Buy Co. Inc. at 99%. Cosmetics retailer …

Fintech Branch launched a payroll debit card tied to a digital bank account instead of a prepaid card, as many payroll cards are set up. Schwarzwald Capital said it has invested an undisclosed amount in Vesta Corp., a transaction-guarantee platform for card-not-present payments. Bitcoin transaction-verification platform Branta said it has worked with Amboss, a provider of …

Online Asian grocer Weee! is adding SNAP/EBT acceptance to its site via a partnership with Forage Technology Corp. Inc. while financial services entity Synchrony Financial marks an integration with Adobe Commerce to offer its financial products on merchant Web sites. Fremont, Calif.-based Weee! says its agreement with Forage enables its …

CelllPoint Digital, a specialist in payments orchestration, will expand the payment methods available through SabreSonic and Radixx, services offered by Sabre Corp. a travel-technology company. U.S. payments platform Spreedly Inc. said it will work with Ebanx, a payment-service provider, to support alternative payment methods for international firms operating in Latin America. Payments …

The Department of Justice approved Capital One Financial Corp.’s $35-billion proposal to acquire Discover Financial Services, noting it does not see strong enough competition concerns to scrub the deal, which was first proposed by the two parties in February last year. PointsKash Inc. said it has concluded an agreement with Discover Network to issue …

Led by digital wallets, instant payments, and QR-code payments, alternative payment methods will account for $142 trillion in volume by the end of 2030, up 170% from now, according to a forecast from ABI Research. Eurostar, the European passenger rail line, has adopted Klarna AB to enable ticket purchases in three equal installments …

Diners visiting a fast-casual restaurant—think Chipotle, Five Guys—are more likely to choose a mobile wallet to pay rather than a payment app, according to data from disbursement platform Onbe. In its Payouts Landscape Report, 56% of consumers prefer to use a mobile wallet for paying at a fast-casual restaurant, compared …

President Trump issued an executive order requiring a move to electronic processing for all federal payments and receipts “by digitizing payments to the extent permissible under applicable law.” The order specifically rules out the creation of a central bank digital currency. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an interim rule that removes the requirement …

Two U.S. banks, Custodia Bank and Vantage Bank, executed what they say is the country’s first tokenization via blockchain of U.S. dollar demand deposits held at a bank, with the resulting transfer and redemption of stablecoins for a customer. The banks say the test carried low transaction costs and fast settlement. …

InComm Payments, which has launched the Mastercard Give Hope gift card, has agreed to donate to the American Red Cross $2 from the purchase price of each card sold on mastercardgiftcard.com. Cubic Transportation Systems Inc., a developer of payments technologies for mass-transit systems, announced it is opening an innovation center …