Transaction Processing

The payments industry is heading into the new year with a significant question mark hanging over its head: What does it mean that the massive social network X is apparently planning to launch a payments network? Little is known so far about the initiative. A New Year’s Eve post on …

A software company called Quantum International Corp. said it will launch LootUpApp, technology that it says will use artificial intelligence to help simplify cryptocurrency transactions. A specific date for the launch was not announced. The global prepaid card market is forecasted to have an 18.2% compound annual growth rate through 2031, a Verified Markets …

Meta Platform’s WhatsApp payments service has been permitted by the National Payments Corp. of India, a regulatory body, to roll out WhatsApp Pay to its entire user base of 500 million in that country. Meta formerly was known as Facebook. GasBuddy, which offers a payments card featuring discounts on gasoline, forecasts the …

A startup called iWallet announced technology it says supports voice-based ordering using artificial intelligence, while also being compliant with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard. Bitget Wallet, a cryptocurrency platform, said it has surpassed 60 million users globally, achieving a 300% growth rate in user count for 2024. Janover Inc., a commercial …

The FinCEN Beneficial Ownership Information mandate is back in force with a recent court decision. That rule, part of the Corporate Transparency Act passed in 2024,had required businesses to file a Beneficial Ownership Information report by Jan. 1, which was delayed earlier in December but now makes these reports due Jan. 13. Businesses formed …

Blackhawk Network will offer physical gift cards to users of Snapchat’s subscription service, Snapchat+. Snapchat is a messaging platform. The digital-payments platform Wirex has added two stablecoins, VNX Euro and VNX Swiss Franc, allowing users to spend the currency directly through their WIrex cards. Payments via QR codes will “shift from one niche …

The Merchants Payments Coalition fired back late Monday at a request last week from the American Bankers Association that the Federal Reserve not act on a proposal to lower a longstanding limit on the interchange banks can earn on debit card transactions.  In a letter to the Fed, the MPC …

United States District Court Judge Virginia Kendell granted a preliminary injunction late Friday that provides banks some relief from the pending Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, but also gives merchants reason to cheer. Kendell, who is overseeing a lawsuit filed against the IIFPA, ruled the injunction applies only to financial …

Fiserv Inc. is looking to beef up its capabilities in embedded payments with an agreement to acquire Payfare Inc., a Toronto-based company, for $201.5 million Canadian, or approximately $139 million in U.S. currency. The deal, which was announced early Monday and is subject to shareholder approval, comes as processors look …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has sued Walmart Inc. and Branch Messenger Inc. over allegations of fees for transferring earnings made by individuals in the Walmart Spark Driver program. The CFPB alleges Walmart forced delivery drivers to use Branch deposit accounts. To move funds from these accounts to another drivers faced “a …