U.S. merchants achieved higher performance scores for their gift card programs in 2025, according to Blackhawk Network’s eighth annual review of the programs. Staples Inc. led all merchants with a score of 104%, followed by Amazon.com with a score of 101% and Best Buy Co. Inc. at 99%. Cosmetics retailer …
April, 2025
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11 April
Cash App Penalties Total $40 Million in a New York Settlement
Block Inc. has been ordered to pay a $40-million fine to the state of New York for what the state’s regulator on Thursday called “significant failures in its Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering compliance program, which violated the [New York Department of Financial Services’ money transmitter and virtual currency regulations.” The …
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11 April
Branch’s Mastercard Payroll Card and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/11/25
Fintech Branch launched a payroll debit card tied to a digital bank account instead of a prepaid card, as many payroll cards are set up. Schwarzwald Capital said it has invested an undisclosed amount in Vesta Corp., a transaction-guarantee platform for card-not-present payments. Bitcoin transaction-verification platform Branta said it has worked with Amboss, a provider of …
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10 April
Consumers Plan to Use Tax Refunds To Pay Down Debt, ACI Finds
Paying down debt is one of the top ways consumers intend to spend their tax refund in 2025, says a survey from ACI Worldwide Inc. Some 39% of consumers surveyed said they would use their tax refund to pay down credit card debt and other loans, an indication that inflationary …
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10 April
How Congress Stymied Mobile App Bills Based on a CFPB Rule
Sweeping regulation that would have impacted all major mobile-payment apps in the United States appears to be headed for the dustbin following action by the House of Representatives Wednesday to vote down a bill based on regulation from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The House action follows a Senate vote …
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10 April
PayPal Unleashes Ferrell Again and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/10/25
PayPal Holdings Inc. said will release a second wave of advertisements with actor Will Ferrell to promote its checkout services, PayPal Pay Later, its buy now, pay later service, and a sweepstakes that will cover, for 1,000 winners for 100 days, up to $100 of their transactions made with PayPal. PayPal launched the …
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9 April
Payments as a growth strategy – how ISVs can optimize revenue potential with embedded finance
Steven Velasquez, Senior Vice President and Head of Partner Business Development – U.S. Bank | Elavon As the worlds of technology and financial services converge, the pace of innovation is increasing exponentially. The advent of AI, cloud-based, headless architecture, and ‘everything-as-a-service’ presents a challenge to ISVs looking to adapt to …
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9 April
How Helcim Is Accelerating Merchant Funding
Canadian payments provider Helcim Inc. is bringing next-business-day funding of digital payment receipts to small and medium businesses in the United States and Canada free of charge. The service, called Faster Deposits, will significantly speed up merchant access to digital payment receipts by days, the processor says. Most deposits take …
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9 April
Eye on E-Commerce: Weee! Adds Online SNAP/EBT; Synchrony’s Adobe Commerce Integration
Online Asian grocer Weee! is adding SNAP/EBT acceptance to its site via a partnership with Forage Technology Corp. Inc. while financial services entity Synchrony Financial marks an integration with Adobe Commerce to offer its financial products on merchant Web sites. Fremont, Calif.-based Weee! says its agreement with Forage enables its …
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9 April
Shopify’s Next Step with Affirm and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/9/25
Shopify Inc. said merchants in Canada with what the company calls “early access” can now offer to customers the Shop Pay Installments payments plan, managed by the buy now, pay later platform Affirm Inc. The move expands the plan’s availability beyond the U.S. market. General availability for Shopify merchants is expected this summer …