Point-of-sale installment-loan provider Sezzle Inc. said its service is now available at “thousands” of online stores in Canada. SSI Group, a provider of payments-related software for the health-care industry, announced a capability that relies on machine learning to predict when providers will receive payments from payers. In related news, U.S. …
Read More »Tariff Pressure Takes Aim at Payment Equipment Once Again
While legislators and regulators focused much of their attention on the Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency this week, tariffs on Chinese-made goods re-emerged in Washington as a threat that could raise prices for merchants and merchant acquirers. The Electronic Transactions Association payments trade group filed comments with the Office of the United States …
Read More »Western Union Adds Visa Direct and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/5/19
The Western Union Co. said it will enable Visa Inc.’s Visa Direct real-time push-payment service. The move follows the remittance-processing company’s announcement in late 2017 that it would adopt Mastercard Inc.’s rival service, Mastercard Send. Merchant processor VizyPay launched a program called Cash Discount 2.0, which calls for merchants to …
Read More »For Bitcoin, Tentative Signs Emerge of Rising Merchant Volume
Most economic activity with Bitcoin remains on trading exchanges, but lately there is some evidence volume at merchants may be picking up. Bitcoin’s total merchant volume, in dollar terms, was $42.8 million in the week ended May 19, according to the latest figures from Chainalysis Inc., a New York City-based …
Read More »May’s Wall Street Downdraft Pulled in Payment Processors
May became the first negative month of 2019 for payments stocks as worries about tariffs and an economic slowdown as a result gripped the wider market. Chicago-based Barrington Research Associates Inc. reported Monday that a 29-company group of transaction-processor stocks posted a mean return of negative 2.57% last month. Only …
Read More »Payments Companies Are Getting Pricier, Researcher Says
Note to payments-company owners: now just might be the right time to sell. Buyers in 2019 have paid more for firms in the payment-tech space since at least 2010, according to a new analysis by 451 Research of more than 1,100 deals over nearly a decade. The median price to …
Read More »Klarna Launches a Direct-to-Consumer App With Installment Payments Built in
Klarna, the installment-payment specialist, has released an app that enables consumers to shop a variety of merchants and pay with Klarna without leaving the app. Announced Tuesday, the Klarna app presents the retailer’s site with a footer containing a Pay with Klarna button. When selecting that option, the shopper can pay …
Read More »The Global-TSYS Merger Responds to M&A Mania But Also Integrated Payments Trends
Facing major consolidation among rival processors. Global Payments Inc. and Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) made it official Tuesday they are merging in an all-stock deal that values TSYS at $21.5 billion and will leave Global with 52% of the combined entity. The acquisition is expected to close in the …
Read More »Another Major Deal Could Be on the Horizon As News Emerges of TSYS-Global Payments Talks
A potential merger, joint venture, or partnership may be in the offing for Global Payments Inc. and Total System Services Inc. (TSYS). The two merchant-processing powerhouses have held preliminary discussions about a combination of some sort, according to a report late Thursday by Bloomberg.com. In addition to traditional merchant processing, …
Read More »AT&T Says It’s Now the First Mobile Carrier to Accept Cryptocurrency for Bill Payments
AT&T Communications said on Thursday that starting now it will accept bill payment in cryptocurrency, making it the first mobile carrier, and one of the largest companies overall, to do so. The company, a unit of AT&T Inc., is using Atlanta-based processor BitPay Inc. to handle digital-currency payments. No information …
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