Transaction Processing

While entities such as the Federal Reserve and the automated clearing house work out methods for faster payments, financial institutions are also investigating the blockchain for real-time money movement. That concept took a step toward reality with an announcement Friday by Spain’s BBVA that it had completed what it says …

• Santander Bank N.A. announced it is now supporting Apple Pay for its Mastercard credit and debit cards. • Healthy Solutions for Pets, a pet-supplement company, has hired Orderhouse to build an e-commerce store. Orderhouse’s services include technology, fulfillment, and payments. • Vantiv Inc. will provide ATM and debit and credit card processing …

Still smarting from the loss of its big cobranded card and acceptance relationship with Costco Wholesale Corp. last June, American Express Co. managed to beat analysts’ earnings estimates in the first quarter and said it has planted the seeds for future growth. As an example, AmEx said its efforts to …

U.S. Bancorp, owner of the big merchant acquirer Elavon Inc., generated 36% of its first-quarter non-interest income from payments, according to the Minneapolis-based company’s first-quarter earnings report released Wednesday. U.S. Bancorp reported $849 million of its total $2.33 billion in non-interest income came from payment sources such merchant fees, interchange …

Are so-called bots the future of commerce? The digital gadgets took another step in that direction Tuesday with a flurry of announcements at a Facebook conference regarding new bot launches on the social network’s massive Messenger app. Mastercard Inc. said it has enabled its Masterpass digital wallet for use with …

• Wireless payments specialist Apriva announced a new vending payment product for Canada that enables contactless payments and chip card transactions. • Point-of-sale equipment and services distributor POS Portal announced that it and processor Vantiv Inc. have simplified the equipment-distribution process for merchants, value-added resellers, and independent software vendors using the processor’s services. • Credit-union …

Financial institutions are determined not to be left behind as mobile person-to-person payments gain popularity and non-bank players invade the market. On Monday, Early Warning Services LLC, a company controlled by some of the nation’s biggest banks, said its Zelle P2P service has grown to include 20 banks and credit …

• In the wake of a rival bid from Euronet Worldwide Inc., Ant Financial Services Group increased its offer for MoneyGram International Inc. from $880 million to $1.2 billion, or from $13.25 per share to $18. Euronet offered $1 billion for MoneyGram after Ant made its original bid. A special MoneyGram …

Automated clearing house volume grew by more than 1 billion transactions in 2016, ACH network governing body NACHA reported this week. Herndon, Va.-based NACHA says traffic on the network, which connects virtually all U.S. financial institutions, hit 25.6 billion transactions, up 5.3% from 2015. That grand total includes on-us transactions. …

In-car payments may be taking yet another step forward, along with related connected-car innovations. American Honda Motor Co. Inc. on Thursday said it is reorganizing its innovation arm, Honda Silicon Valley Lab, as a new company called Honda R&D Innovations Inc. The new entity has been created specifically to “expand …