Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
• 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 sites that support Microsoft’s Payment Request API. Last June, Microsoft announced it was adding near-field communication capability to its wallet for in-store usage.
• Merchant processor Harbortouch expanded its “POS-as-a-Service” offering to the salon and spa industry with a program that includes a new software suite and a new hardware platform called Elite III. The package’s cost is $69 monthly and includes software, hardware, installation, and training. There are 82,000 salon and spa locations in the U.S., Harbortouch says.
• Payments provider Cayan announced that processor Elavon certified Cayan transactions as EMV compliant on its platform.
• Baseball card and sports memorabilia retailer The Topps Co. told customers by email that its Web site was hacked during the summer and early autumn, and that customer information that included credit card numbers, expiration dates, and verification codes may have been stolen, according to press reports.
• The price of Bitcoin soared past $1,000 as the new year dawned. By Tuesday morning, it was trading just shy of $1,020.
• VTEX, which operates a cloud-commerce platform for e-commerce sites, has added risk tools from e-commerce processor Adyen.
• BBVA Bancomer acquired OpenPay, a Mexico-based payments service provider that processes real-time payments for consumers and businesses. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. BBVA Bancomer is said to be the largest bank in Mexico.
• Paytm, operator of a mobile-payments service in India, received permission from the Reserve Bank of India to launch a so-called Payments Bank to offer financial services to underserved consumers. Paytm is a unit of One97 Communications, one of a handful of payments unicorns, startups valued at $1 billion or more.
