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U.S. online retail spending through home and work desktop computers in the 2016 holiday season totaled $63.1 billion, up 12% from $56.4 billion in 2015, Internet metrics firm comScore Inc. reported Thursday. “The 2016 online holiday shopping season had another successful year, with desktop growth rates in line with our …

• Merchant processor EVO Payments International has acquired payments-solutions specialist Sterling Payment Technologies. Paul Hunter, Sterling’s president and chief executive, will manage the Sterling unit within EVO. Terms of the deal were not announced. • An app called Clarity Money has debuted to help consumers manage their finances by performing such chores as negotiating bills, choosing …

When JPMorgan Chase & Co. decided to recruit order-ahead capability for its Chase Pay mobile wallet, it settled on a 6-year-old mobile payments startup whose technology could give Chase Pay a vital boost in a crucial merchant segment. Meanwhile, the alliance could also bring tens of millions of new customers …

The United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is questioning Mastercard Inc.’s planned $920 million acquisition of London-based VocaLink Holdings Ltd., a deal which if consummated would give Mastercard a strong presence in several non-card payment systems, including the Faster Payments initiative in the United States. VocaLink operates Bacs, the U.K.’s …

It’s been said for years, but 2017 finally could be the year for mobile payments, according to Chetan Sharma, a prominent consultant in the mobile-technology space. “Fueled by demonetization in India and the rise of viable mobile-payment solutions worldwide, we expect mobile payments to enter the consumer consciousness in a …

• Microsoft Corp. has made further details available about Web Payments, a feature it announced last month it is introducing for both Windows 10 PCs and Windows 10 Mobile. The feature will work with the Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome browsers and will allow Microsoft Wallet users to more easily make purchases on …

• Automaker Volkswagen AG has acquired PayByPhone Technologies Inc., according to press reports. A unit of U.K.-based payments processor PayPoint plc, Vancouver-based PayByPhone offers a platform for mobile payments for parking and claims 12.5 million users in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company handles more than $300 million in parking payments annually, according …

With online sales soaring, physical retailers are faced with the challenge of how to recreate the convenience of e-commerce in a traditional store. On Tuesday, a 4-year-old startup called Five Elements Robotics unveiled a device that promises to help with that challenge by putting robots at the service of consumers. Once in …

• A 4-year-old startup called Five Elements Robotics has introduced a robotic shopping cart called Dash that allows customers to download a shopping list and then guides them through the store to find the items. The cart is also equipped with a scanner to let customers scan and pay for the items at …

The Anti-Phishing Working Group reported that the total number of phishing Web sites detected in the third quarter was 364,424, a 21.8% decrease from 466,065 in the second quarter. The APWG said the second-quarter figures were an “all-time-high” for phishing attacks and the third-quarter data is a return to more historical norms. …