As legislatures eye geysers of tax revenue in the wake of the May 14 Supreme Court decision leaving legal sports betting up to each state, officials wondering how much that haul could be are looking to Nevada. It’s the only state that permits wide-open wagering on a full menu of …
Read More »Digitally-Oriented Millennials Put Their Mark on Loyalty Programs
Young adults like loyalty programs even more than older consumers, and the so-called Millennial generation has its own preferences for types of loyalty programs and the form factors for connecting merchants and consumers, according to new research from Hawk Incentives. For example, as a group, respondents to a Hawk Incentives …
Read More »COMMENTARY: In the Eyes of the CFPB, We Are All Prepaid Now
A deep dive into the more than 2,000 pages of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s regulations covering the prepaid market shows that the CFPB is trying to extend uniform consumer protections to as many payment types as possible. That includes unauthorized or disputed transactions for all financial-access devices regardless of …
Read More »Plastic Preferred for Vacations and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/21/18
Payments industry veteran Dan Henry has been named chairman of 3PEA International Inc., a prepaid card program manager. President and chief executive Mark Newcomer, who co-founded the company and has served as chairman since 2006, will become vice chairman. Henry was until recently chief executive of prepaid card specialist NetSpend, …
Read More »Retailers Amp Up Fraud Prevention for Their Online Gift Card Sales
Selling gift cards online makes a lot of sense for many merchants, but criminals know that, too, and have quickly figured out ways to steal the cards. Now, as merchants have increased their sophistication in countering these thefts, so too have criminals figured ways to foil the merchants. “Gift cards …
Read More »FIS’s Baseball Play and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/15/18
Visa Inc. is sponsoring a contest in which the winner will receive an international trip on which all expenses will be paid without using cash. Applicants must submit a short video by June 15. Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) has extended to 2022 an agreement with Minor League Baseball …
Read More »Upserve Opens Denver Office and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/25/18
Prepaid card and payments specialist InComm announced it is adding 150 jobs and investing more than $20 million in the Atlanta and Columbus, Ga., areas. The moves follow its acquisition of the distribution rights to American Express Co.’s reloadable and gift card products, and the purchase of the AmEx Serve platform. …
Read More »Expert Observers Fear the Bright Outlook for Federal Regulation Could Darken Soon
More than a year after the Trump Administration took power, payments industry executives looking for a friendlier tone from Washington, D.C., are getting it, but it’s questionable just how much tangible benefit this will yield, two expert Washington observers said Tuesday. Meanwhile, the picture could darken this fall if, as …
Read More »Galileo Processing Expands Beyond the Prepaid Niche Into the Wider World of Payments
Best known for serving prepaid card providers, Galileo Processing says it is rapidly expanding into other parts of the electronic-payments industry with new services, including application programming interfaces supporting cryptocurrency transactions. Salt Lake City, Utah-based Galileo declined to disclose actual numbers, but said earlier this week that it posted a …
Read More »Blackhawk’s Proposed $3.5 Billion Buyout Headed Toward Mid-Year Close
No other bidders emerged during a so-called go-shop period that expired earlier this month, so Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. reported Tuesday that its planned $3.5 billion buyout by two investment firms remains on track to close at mid-year. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based provider of gift cards and other prepaid card services …
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