Transaction Processing

U.S. merchants achieved higher performance scores for their gift card programs in 2025, according to Blackhawk Network’s eighth annual review of the programs. Staples Inc. led all merchants with a score of 104%, followed by Amazon.com with a score of 101% and Best Buy Co. Inc. at 99%. Cosmetics retailer …

Fintech Branch launched a payroll debit card tied to a digital bank account instead of a prepaid card, as many payroll cards are set up. Schwarzwald Capital said it has invested an undisclosed amount in Vesta Corp., a transaction-guarantee platform for card-not-present payments. Bitcoin transaction-verification platform Branta said it has worked with Amboss, a provider of …

Paying down debt is one of the top ways consumers intend to spend their tax refund in 2025, says a survey from ACI Worldwide Inc. Some 39% of consumers surveyed said they would use their tax refund to pay down credit card debt and other loans, an indication that inflationary …

Sweeping regulation that would have impacted all major mobile-payment apps in the United States appears to be headed for the dustbin following action by the House of Representatives Wednesday to vote down a bill based on regulation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The House action follows a Senate vote …

PayPal Holdings Inc. said will release a second wave of advertisements with actor Will Ferrell to promote its checkout services, PayPal Pay Later, its buy now, pay later service, and a sweepstakes that will cover, for 1,000 winners for 100 days, up to $100 of their transactions made with PayPal. PayPal launched the …

Online Asian grocer Weee! is adding SNAP/EBT acceptance to its site via a partnership with Forage Technology Corp. Inc. while financial services entity Synchrony Financial marks an integration with Adobe Commerce to offer its financial products on merchant Web sites. Fremont, Calif.-based Weee! says its agreement with Forage enables its …

Shopify Inc. said merchants in Canada with what the company calls “early access” can now offer to customers the Shop Pay Installments payments plan, managed by the buy now, pay later platform Affirm Inc. The move expands the plan’s availability beyond the U.S. market. General availability for Shopify merchants is expected this summer …

Buy now, pay later provider Sezzle Inc. announced early Monday that users of its MoneyIQ financial-education program are completing an average of 11 modules and have collectively earned more than 5 million experience-rewards points. MoneyIQ, which Sezzle launched with Zogo in January, is a financial-education tool within the Sezzle mobile …

CelllPoint Digital, a specialist in payments orchestration, will expand the payment methods available through SabreSonic and Radixx, services offered by Sabre Corp. a travel-technology company. U.S. payments platform Spreedly Inc. said it will work with Ebanx, a payment-service provider, to support alternative payment methods for international firms operating in Latin America. Payments …

Forter, a provider of identity-intelligence technology, announced early Monday several enhancements to its Payment Optimization technology aimed at increasing authorization rates and detecting account-takeover attempts. Forter is testing what it calls a predictive-payment routing app that recommends when and how to use payment authentication, as well as the best processor …