With consumers—and criminals—flocking to e-commerce, card issuers and merchants are not only experiencing a significant increase in fraud, but also in so-called friendly fraud committed by cardholders who dispute legitimate purchases after the fact. As a result, merchants’ need for stronger cardholder verification tools is growing. To address that need, …

Consumer spending in the United States, in terms of February retail sales excluding auto, was up 8.7% over February 2021 and 17.3% over February 2019, according to Mastercard Inc.’s SpendingPulse report, which monitors in-store and online retail sales.President Joe Biden signed an executive order requiring federal agencies to work out a common …

Wireless connectivity at faster speeds and with more reliable service could be more widely available to the payments industry in as few as two years or less. Mastercard Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.’s Verizon Business unit announced Tuesday morning they intend to work together to make 5G connectivity available in …

Buy now, pay later specialist Afterpay Ltd. said it is now available through its app to customers of Amazon, CVS, Dell, Kroger, Macy’s, Nike, Target, Walgreen’s, and other major brands.EVO Payments Inc. has added automated clearing house processing to its PayFabric gateway. EVO’s ACH processing can be integrated into a merchant’s Web site …

By shifting stores and consumers to contactless payment, the pandemic made it easier to stop fraud.  One year into a global pandemic, and our lives will never be the same. The way we work, shop, travel, and entertain ourselves have all seen major changes during a year of living surrounded …

Wells Fargo Co. said overall levels of optimism among small businesses remain at just more than half where they were late last year, even though its Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index rose 12 points for the second straight quarter in the latest period.As local governments imposed measures to control fresh outbreaks …

The Covid-19 pandemic, which is surging again in many parts of North America, has proven to be a tipping point for digital business payments, says a white paper released Monday from WEX Inc., a provider of payment technology for fleet operators and travel and health-care businesses. Of the 308 senior …

Visa Inc. has agreed to acquire YellowPepper USA Inc., whose technology supports financial institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean in launching cards and other financial services. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the next few weeks, were not announced.Celero Commerce said it will acquire TransNational Payments. Celero …

As more consumer and business activity, let alone shopping, migrates to digital channels, the potential for additional risk increases. A new white paper from Giact Systems LLC outlines where some of the risk may be emerging. The Allen, Texas-based payments and identity-fraud prevention firm said undetected fraud can erode consumer …

The Federal Reserve, which is taking industry comments on its upcoming FedNow real-time payments network until Nov. 7, said common questions so far involve pricing and the scope of the service. The first question can’t be answered yet, and the second touches on services that will be designed by financial institutions building on top …