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JPMorgan Chase & Co., the largest U.S. bank by assets and the biggest bank that runs its own merchant-acquiring operation, reported Friday that it processed $1.19 trillion in payment volume from merchants last year, up 12% from $1.06 trillion in 2016. Chase’s merchant volume rose 13% in 2017’s fourth quarter …

While most payments executives have been fascinated by the spectacular year-long rise—and recent crash—in the value of Bitcoin, merchants that accept the cryptocurrency continue to struggle with a wide range of vexing issues. Overstock.com, one of the first merchants to accept Bitcoin, this week had to fix a programming flaw …

A group of California small businesses won a victory Wednesday when a three-judge panel of a federal appellate court upheld their challenge to California’s ban on credit card surcharges, but a key aspect of the ruling applies only to the merchants who sued the state. Still, the ruling represents at …

Bitcoin’s high-flying value has lost some altitude lately, but the cost to perform a transaction is reaching record highs. At the same time, other major cryptocurrencies have also become increasingly expensive not only to buy but to use as a means of exchange. The average fee to perform a Bitcoin …

With Bitcoin priced near $18,000 Friday morning, and with futures markets already trading Bitcoin contracts or getting set to, investors in the digital currency are riding high. Consumers who want to use Bitcoin to buy things, though, face a market rife with volatility, slow transactions, and high costs. Bitcoin exchanges …

Discover Financial Services could find itself in the catbird’s seat if Apple Inc.’s new Apple Pay Cash person-to-person payment service gains popularity as a way to pay merchants. In addition to its main P2P function, Apple Pay Cash is accepted at any merchant location that accepts Apple’s 3-year-old Apple Pay …

Square Inc. late Tuesday said it is expanding its Bitcoin pilot as the cryptocurrency continues to climb, briefly breaching the $13,000 level early Wednesday. The pilot, which Square launched four weeks ago for what it said was a “small” number of Square Cash users, is now being made available to …

Apple Inc. on Monday officially entered an increasingly crowded arena of players looking to carve out a share of the market for person-to-person payments. Apple Pay Cash, which the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant first announced six months ago, went live following the release of iOS 11.2, Apple’s latest operating-system update …

CME Group Inc. said on Friday it will launch a futures contract for Bitcoin on Dec. 18, a move some expect will lend considerable stability to the market for the 8-year-old digital currency. Also on Friday, Chicago-based CME’s crosstown rival, Cboe Global Markets Inc., said it will announce “shortly” an …

As 2017 heads toward a close, merger-and-acquisition activity in the merchant-acquiring space is on track to equal or exceed 2016’s number of deals, and buyers are paying more as the pool of quality acquisition targets shrinks. Annapolis, Md.-based First Annapolis Consulting Inc. tells Digital Transactions magazine for its upcoming December issue …