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- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced its intention to extend once again the effective date of its massive 2016 rule governing prepaid accounts “to allow additional time for implementation of the final rule.” The announcement does not specify a new effective date. The agency had earlier extended the deadline from Oct. 1, 2017 to April 1, 2018.
- First Data Corp. released its latest SpendTrend Holiday Countdown that finds among brick-and-mortar stores electronics and appliances account for 17.4% of holiday sales for the period between Nov. 23 through Dec. 8. The average ticket at these merchants increased 14.4% year-over-year. Travel purchases were the top e-commerce transactions, accounting for 15.6% of sales. The average ticket decreased 15.1%.
- Credit card users in the United Kingdom are more likely to have used Apply Pay than their U.S. counterparts—12% compared with 9%, respectively—said Auriemma Consulting Group in a recent analysis of the two markets. More than 90% in each country report satisfaction with the mobile-payment app.
- Bitcoin is taking a dive on year-end profit-taking. The cryptocurrency had plummeted to $12,809 by the start of business Friday, Central Time, according to a compilation of prices from multiple exchanges as reported by Coinmarketcap.com. That’s down more than $7,000, or 30%, from the briefly achieved high of $20,042 on Sunday, according to the cryptocurrency information site.
- Along with Bitcoin, the stock of Net Element Inc. is plunging. The merchant processor’s stock rocketed 272% Wednesday when it announced that it was creating a new unit to pursue blockchain opportunities. On Thursday, Net Element’s shares slipped 3%, but as of about 10:05 a.m. Eastern on Friday, the stock was trading at $13.76, off 27% from Thursday’s $18.75 close, according to Yahoo! Finance.
- WeChat Pay, the mobile-payment network based on China’s WeChat messenger service, launched a “Global Christmas Shopping Season” promotion offering discounts at almost 100,000 merchants around the world, but particularly in the United States and other nations that receive the most Chinese tourists.
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