Payments provider North American Bancard Holdings LLC said it completed its acquisition of Total Merchant Services Inc. The combined company now processes nearly $50 billion in payments annually. FitPay Inc., a provider of payment-authentication technology, said it will offer prepaid capability on contactless-enabled wearable devices through a FitPay prepaid Mastercard. The program will allow …

Unattended payments services provider USA Technologies Inc. announced late Friday that it plans to sell $34.5 million in stock to finance growth initiatives, including possible acquisitions and international expansion. Malvern, Pa.-based USAT filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission giving details about the proposed sale, for which …

• Payment technology provider VeriFone Systems Inc. said it has integrated with the AirportConnect Common Use Payment Service from SITA, the big information-technology and communications specialist serving the air-transport industry, to bring electronic payment acceptance for multiple airlines and ground handlers at airport check-in desks, kiosks and bag drops via a …

• Repeal of the Durbin Amendment took a step closer to reality with the passage of the Financial Choice Act by the House Financial Services Committee by a 34-26 vote. The full House is expected to take up the bill by the end of the month. • MoneyGram International Inc. said …

• Mastercard Inc. said it will move to close its acquisition of VocaLink Holdings Ltd.“within the next few weeks” now that the transaction has been cleared by the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority. • USA Technologies Inc. said it is providing its contactless ePort Connect payment device for entertainment kiosks from Sneaker …

• In a bid to reach cash-only customers, Amazon.com Inc. launched Amazon Cash, a service that gives users a barcode they can store in their smart phone or print and bring to a participating store to add cash to their Amazon balance. Participating stores include CVS, Speedway, Kum & Go, and …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews The lingering impact of some retailers’ slow conversion to EMV chip card acceptance continued to plague prepaid card services provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. in the fourth quarter. Blackhawk reported late Wednesday that revenues fell short of its expectations in part because of a “continued EMV headwind” …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews PayPal Holdings Inc., which hasn’t been shy about laying out big money to enter new businesses, said on Tuesday it will shell out $233 million to buy TIO Networks Corp., a cloud-based processor that will deepen PayPal’s penetration of the bill-payment market. The acquisition is expected …

• Merchant processor CardConnect Corp. unveiled a new release of its CardPoint Mobile app for smart phones and tablets that includes a feature called Catalog that allows businesses to label, price, discount, and categorize their products and services in one place. • Point-of-sale terminal maker Equinox Payments announced that POS-equipment distributor POSDATA added the …

Two years after the launch of Apple Pay, here’s a look at Cupertino’s entry and at services from the other tech titans that have joined the mobile-payments game—and at how financial institutions are reacting. Of the three major third-party wallets, Apple Pay is now 2 years old while Alphabet Inc.’s …