Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
• Samsung Electronics Co.’s soon-to-be-released Galaxy S8 smart phone will employ facial-recognition technology for mobile payments, including the company’s Samsung Pay service, within months of release, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources. The S8 also reportedly will use fingerprint and iris detection.
• Merchant processor Global Payments Inc. said its OpenEdge integrated-payments division launched EdgeExpress Cloud, a new platform designed to streamline payments integration with various software applications.
• Wire-transfer provider MoneyGram International Inc. said total revenues grew 4% year-over-year to $416.2 million in the fourth quarter on a constant-currency basis and that digital money-transfer revenues increased 16%; MoneyGram has a deal to be acquired by China-based Ant Financial Services Group for $880 million, but U.S.-based Euronet Worldwide Inc. on March 14 announced a $1 billion unsolicited buyout offer for MoneyGram.
• ATM manufacturer Diebold Nixdorf Inc. plans to divest its legacy Diebold business in the United Kingdom to satisfy British regulators’ antitrust concerns; Diebold Nixdorf was created last August when U.S.-based Diebold Inc. acquired Germany’s Wincor Nixdorf AG.
• Tablet-based point-of-sale equipment maker Revel Systems announced airport retailer Pacific Gateway will use Revel POS terminals at some retail and restaurant locations at San Jose International Airport, LaGuardia International Airport in New York City, and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. Pacific Gateway also will use Expensify, an expense-reporting software.
• Bill-payment processor Noventis Inc. secured $4 million in debt financing from SVB Financial Group.
• Factor4 LLC, a provider of stored-value services to small and medium-size merchants, has integrated its gift card and loyalty platform with an e-commerce platform from 3dcart, allowing merchants to sell e-gift cards online.
• Research from mobile-wallet services provider CardFree indicates mobile users increase frequency at mobile-accepting stores, ultimately doubling visit frequency before leveling off.
