Pricing

Helcim Inc., a Calgary, Alberta-based payments provider, launched its Helcim Smart Terminal, which it says carries no contract or monthly fees. The device, which uses the Android operating system, is priced at $349 (C$429) and will be available this summer. Among its technical capabilities is a built-in printer, a large …

The leveling off of e-commerce activity continues as online prices, as measured by the Adobe Digital Price Index, fell 2.3% in May from a year ago. This is the ninth consecutive year-over-year decrease in online prices, Adobe Inc. says. Of the 18 categories tracked by Adobe, prices fell in 11 …

Some 80% of U.S. consumers say they have used a peer-to-peer payment service at least once, while two-thirds report having used a mobile wallet in the past year, according to the 2023 State of Payments report from card-issuing platform Marqeta Inc. The study surveyed 4,091 consumers in February, including 2,013 in the …

Sparing merchants card-acceptance fees is the fuel that has propelled alternative payments options, such as account-to-account transactions. One startup benefitting from this trend is London-based Sway Money Ltd., which enables merchants to accept account-to-account payments using a QR code and an off-the-shelf mobile device. Sway, which was incorporated in December …

Payment orchestration has entered a new phase, evolving from a gateway or regional solution to include sophisticated global capabilities and services. This unlocks a set of powerful capabilities that allow businesses to customize on a global scale, turning on and off services by region, product, and sales channel, increasing authorization …

Small businesses in Canada will reap lower interchange rates in that country, the Department of Finance Canada announced Thursday. The deal suggests a similar reduction is possible in the United States, the Merchant Payments Coalition quickly responded. Both Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. agreed to lower the domestic consumer credit …

Fifth Third Bancorp said it has closed on its acquisition of Big Data LLC, a technology platform for health-care payments. Terms were not disclosed Mark Barnett, president of Mastercard Inc. for Europe, said card interchange “represents incredibly good value” with respect to “sharing the costs and benefits of the payment system.” The remarks …

Merchants’ price for accepting credit cards has remained steady for years, according to data released Monday by the Electronic Payments Coalition, an advocacy group representing the payment card industry. The EPC’s release comes as widespread and longstanding merchant complaints about the cost of card acceptance have sparked efforts by federal …

Amazon.com Inc. has beefed up the rewards for its Visa-branded cards issued by Chase, in response to cardholder’s desire for travel-related perks and the ability to earn more rewards for day-to-day expenses, such as commuting. Additionally, Amazon is allowing cardholders to redeem rewards daily and has rebranded its cards. Prime …

The official launch of FedNow as a commercial service is set for July, but already the nation’s banking regulator, along with observers, have seen a pattern in where initial participants have been using the real-time payments service. “We’re starting to see more activity around business-to-consumer [payments], related to payroll front …