Smart Cards

Approximately 400,000 U.S. merchant locations began accepting EMV chip cards in 2018’s first six months, according to new data from Visa Inc. In its latest report on the U.S. conversion from magnetic-stripe payment cards to the EMV standard, Visa on Wednesday said 3.1 million merchant locations accepted the new cards …

In its latest update about the U.S. conversion from magnetic-stripe to EMV chip cards, Visa Inc. said more than 3.1 million merchant locations accepted chip cards as of June versus only 392,000 in September 2015. The number of Visa chip cards increased 214% in that time to 499.7 million. Some …

Worldnet TPS Ltd. launched GoChipNow, a service for virtual-terminal merchants to convert to EMV chip card acceptance. VSoft Corp., which specializes in information-technology products for financial institutions, said it will integrate a payment service from Payrailz into its digital banking platform. Total investment in startups specializing in artificial intelligence, an …

Notoriously picky about which payment forms it accepts, Costco Wholesale Corp. is now accepting Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay in its U.S. stores. With 519 locations, Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco is the nation’s third-largest brick-and-mortar retailer, according to the National Retail Federation. In its warehouse-like stores, it accepts debit …

Payment-processing technology company Pineapple Payments has acquired payment-gateway provider Transax for undisclosed terms. The deal represents the fifth acquisition this year for Pineapple, which says it is processing $3 billion in annual volume for more than 13,000 merchants. Payments-technology provider linked2pay introduced what it calls instant merchant settlements for credit …

As of Monday, point-of-sale terminal maker Verifone Systems Inc. once again is a privately-held company. Announced in April, the $3.4 billion deal also sees Michael Pulli, former chief executive of Pace plc, step into the same role at San Jose, Calif.-based Verifone, replacing Paul Galant, who became CEO in 2013. Galant …

Payment-card maker CPI Card Group said Thursday that new sales from an existing customer boosted its U.S. prepaid debit card revenue 26% in the second quarter. Littleton, Colo.-based CPI also reported that sold its United Kingdom business to private-investment firm SEA Equity for $4.5 million. With revenue of $15.4 million …

Malicious attacks on payments systems come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes, making it a nettlesome problem figuring out which types of attack require the most defensive resources. Yet, the stakes could be highest in the United States, where the average cost per breach, at $225, is one …

Processor Net Element Inc. said its first-half payment volume rose 37% year over year to $1.62 billion. Most of the volume came from the company’s North American subsidiary, Unified Payments, which handled $1.4 billion in payments, up 40%. Handpoint, a mobile point-of-sale payments provider, announced an integration with RxTrax, a …

Expect more point-of-sale terminals equipped with near-field communication capability over the next four years as the market is forecasted to grow at a 15.6% compound annual growth rate through 2022, says Berg Insight, a Sweden-based research firm. By the end of 2017, POS terminal makers had shipped an estimated 24.7 …