By moving to real-time payments, US banks will enhance their service as well as generate cost efficiencies and higher revenues, writes Darryl Proctor When the subject of US banking comes up, Wall Street, innovative multi-billion-dollar deals, and cutting-edge technology might come to mind. The reality, however, is a bit different. …

Europe’s new payments regulation promises much, including free transactions. But do banks need to be forced to do what’s in the best interests of customers and shareholders? The European Union’s revised payment-services directive (PSD2) changes rules governing payments and is intended to, and inevitably will, impact the roles and economics …

Despite obstacles, payment processors and fintechs increasingly are looking at cross-border e-commerce for high-growth opportunities. Go global. That’s the credo an increasing number of payment processors and financial-technology firms subscribe to as technology transforms cross-border commerce from yesterday’s luxury into an attainable option for consumers today. Researcher Talie Baker, a …

Add Sonic Drive-In to the roster of merchants that have experienced a breach of their payments systems. The Oklahoma City-based fast-food chain confirmed to Digital Transaction News that it has been investigating the incident. On Tuesday, security blog KrebsOnSecurity.com reported the breach affecting an unknown number of Sonic’s point-of-sale systems. …

First Tech Federal Credit Union has activated the Zelle person-to-person payment service in its mobile-banking app, which has 110,000 users. Puerto Rico-based payment processor Evertec Inc. said it will donate $1 million for relief efforts and that it continues to process ATM and point-of-sale transactions on the island, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria. …

Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) announced Friday after the stock market closed that Pamela A. Joseph, the processor’s president and chief operating officer, had resigned from her positions and as a member of TSYS’s board of directors, effective Sept. 30. The resignation triggered speculation about the company’s future and apparently …

Payments provider BluePay Processing LLC said it will offer TranCloud, an EMV-enabled payments application from Datacap Systems Inc., to merchants. ATM network operator Cardtronics plc said the Speedway convenience-store chain added ATMs at 1,500 stores in eight states to Cardtronics’ Allpoint Network, which means that all 2,550 ATMs in 20 states where Speedway operates …

A large portion of Apple Inc.’s customers spurn facial biometrics, a key security element in Apple’s new iPhone X, according to new research. Survey results from United Kingdom-based Juniper Research say that more than 40% of users of Apple’s mobile devices in the U.S. consider themselves unlikely to use facial …

Bitcoin has taken a beating in recent days, but investors who bought earlier this year are still enjoying handsome returns. Now, some merchants of high-end goods are signing up to accept the virtual currency, hoping to cash in on that wealth effect. Bitcoin was trading at $3,498 early Thursday morning, …

Q2 Holdings Inc., a provider of digital-banking solutions, launched CardSwap, an application that allows consumers to automatically switch credit or debit card information across their network of subscription and retail merchants. The first client to adopt the service is Chime, which provides branchless bank accounts. Because of Hurricane Irma, the PCI Security …