Digital currencies like Bitcoin have been beset for years by a limited user base and merchant indifference. As mainline players like Visa and PayPal create new services, is that about to change? Dust off any textbook on economics and you’ll find, buried somewhere in the early pages of the tome, …

It has been fashionable in the payments industry to dismiss cryptocurrencies as exotic flora and fauna that can’t begin to compete with the sturdiness of, shall we say, real money. And indeed, the oldest crypto coins have been in operation now for more than a decade with little to show …

Repay Holdings Inc. announced its acquisition of Kontrol Payables, an accounts payable automation provider, for up to $11 million.Cryptocurrency-based payments processor GreenBox POS announced the launch of a pilot for its Coyni stablecoin token. Among other features, Coyni offers instant settlement as well as transaction deletions and reversals.Cryptocurrency processor Flexa Inc. said it will be …

Fresha, a platform that enables consumers to book and pay for beauty and wellness appointments, received a $100-millon Series C investment led by General Atlantic.BitPay Inc. is processing transactions allowing users to spend cryptocurrency with Shells, a provider of cloud-based virtual desktop operating systems.The city of South Haven, Mich., has launched …

Libra—er, sorry, Diem—is coming home to the United States, a bit bruised but also a bit wiser than when it left. Bruised but unbowed, the Facebook-inspired blockchain initiative announced in May it is quitting Switzerland and linking up with La Jolla, Calif.-based Silvergate Bank as it plots the next stage …

With consumers flocking to online stores and marketplaces, processors and technology providers are carving out new paths to make it easier to sign up sellers and process their transactions. The latest development comes from commerce platform Digital River, which on Wednesday launched a program that allows independent software vendors and …

The Container Store Group Inc. next month will start offering installment payments from buy now, pay later specialist Afterpay Ltd.With the accelerating conversion of cash to electronic payments, the total value of transactions processed by point-of-sale terminals will grow to more than $17.3 trillion globally in 2026, up from $14.8 trillion this year, …

Stablecoins in particular hold significant promise for such functions as cross-border payments. But banks will need to make important adjustments. Innovation in the payments space is occurring at an astonishing rate, with new technology capabilities enabling huge strides to be made in enhancing speed, transparency, and efficiency in transaction processing. …

Payments companies took a beating as the pandemic raged, but Visa Inc.’s top brass indicated Tuesday afternoon the big network has put the worst behind it. “We believe we are at the beginning of the end of the pandemic,” said chief executive and chairman Al Kelly as he pointed to …

Some 83% of consumers said they had used a QR code in the past year to make a payment or complete a financial transaction, with 54% of those persons saying they had used a QR code for those purposes for the first time in only the past three months. Still, just 39% …