Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Powered by international growth, American Express Co. reported early Wednesday that its merchant network now has more than 170 million locations worldwide. In his annual letter to shareholders, AmEx chairman and chief executive Stephen J. Squeri also plugged the 176-year-old company’s artificial-intelligence initiatives. What AmEx calls its “locations in force” …
March, 2026
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25 March
How Top U.S. Acquirers Ranking Changed Following Acquisitions
There’s a new top U.S. merchant acquirer. Global Payments Inc., with an estimated $2.8 trillion in 2025 U.S. processing volume, has moved into the top spot in the 2026 TSG Directory of U.S. Merchant Acquirers, unseating JPMorgan Chase & Co., which had held the top rank since at least the …
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25 March
Zip Take on Agentic Trust and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/25/26
With the increasing activity of AI agents in online commerce, payments-technology company Ixopay said it is working with digital-payments specialist Zip to develop a unified trust layer, or an open framework meant to address trust and risk in agentic commerce. Financial-services technology developer Q2 Holdings Inc. said it will work with Stablecore, a platform …
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24 March
Choosing the Right Payment Processing Partner: A Checklist for Software Platforms
After everything you’ve invested in building your platform, the last thing you need is a payment processing partner that slows you down. For integrated software vendors (ISVs), payments aren’t just another feature or add-on. Your payment processor becomes a direct extension of your product, your brand, and the experience you …
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24 March
How Adding Send for Instant Payments Spawned Good Surprises for BofA
Bank-focused instant payments have been around since 2017, when The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC launched its Real Time Payments network, and gained more attention with the 2023 debut of FedNow from the Federal Reserve. While thousands of banks and credit unions have signed up to receive real-time payments from …
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24 March
Feedzai Unveils RiskFM, Aimed at a Frustrating Plague of Financial Fraud
With nearly three-quarters of major U.S. banks reporting an increase in fraud losses last year, developers of fraud-prevention technology are scrambling to offer solutions. In the latest example, the Portugal-based technology company Feedzai has announced RiskFM, a tool the company says replaces a singular reliance on card-network data with information …
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24 March
Lightspeed’s AI Inventory Tool and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/24/26
Payments processor Lightspeed Commerce Inc. announced a new AI-based tool aimed at helping merchants with inventory, product availability, and stock discrepancies. Ticket Fairy, a digital platform that handles ticket sales and other functions for live events, announced its incorporation of AI in the launch of its new platform, Ticket Fairy 3.0. Founded …
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23 March
13 Years on, Surcharging Remains Complex for Acquirers
It’s been 13 years since merchants were allowed to add surcharges to cover much of their credit card processing costs, yet confusion and complexity remain. Speakers at the Transact 2026 conference last week, sponsored by the Electronic Transactions Association, did their part to dispel much of this confusion. “Surcharging is a …
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23 March
A New Connection Lets PayPal Open Venmo to International Transfers
For years, PayPal has maintained two separate peer-to-peer payment services, though the brand it promotes most often for this capability is Venmo. But Venmo users have not been able to send money outside of the United States, limiting its utility. Now, that’s changed. Early Monday, PayPal announced a new link …
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23 March
AI’s $500 Billion Retail Bump and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/23/26
AI in retail applications is expected to generate $500 billion in incremental volume by 2030, according to the “2026 Global Unified Commerce Benchmark for Specialty Retail” report from Manhattan Associates. The report relies on research among more than 400 specialty retailers in global markets, including North America. Arguing that AI agents …
