By the end of 2015, most smart phones sold in the United States will have near-field communication (NFC) capability and be mobile-wallet ready, potentially creating a confluence of payments and commerce, says Matt de Ganon, senior vice president of product at mobile wallet provider Softcard. That prospect excites de …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has fined Goldman Sachs “at least” $19.8 million in redress and assessed the company a $45 million civil-money penalty, while at the same time ordering Apple Inc. to pay a $25-million civil money penalty. The agency has also banned Goldman from introducing a new credit card …

If fraud prevention remains tied to single regions, online payment losses will continue to mount. The global financial ecosystem has become incredibly interconnected with the growth of e-commerce, where global sales approached the $6-trillion mark in 2023. Fueled by new payment methods and categories like mobile and social commerce, online …

Strava, an online community for athletes, said it is working with Block Inc.’s Cash App unit to launch this year’s HBCU Homecoming Tour, which features running events at U.S. universities. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is reportedly seeking comment on Apple Inc.’s practices with respect to contactless payments as the regulator works on …

Credit and debit cards from U.S. Bank are now ready to use with Paze, the online checkout platform, which comes preloaded with access to up to 150 million payment cards. Paze is in the midst of a national rollout as it seeks to give issuers an edge in e-commerce checkout. …

What happens in Illinois won’t stay in Illinois, whose new law exempting merchants from card interchange on sales tax and tips poses a whole host of technical and operational questions for processors nationwide. Bills that would exempt merchants from paying interchange on sales tax for credit card purchases have been …

High card-acceptance fees are the root cause for why some merchants are charging consumers for cash back at the point-of-sale, a service merchants have historically provided consumers even though customers can make purchases with their debit cards at no charge, says the Merchants Payment Coalition. Driving the trend is that …

Bharcap Partners LLC has made an unspecified majority investment in payments provider Electronic Merchant Systems, which processes roughly $6 billion in volume annually for 25,000 merchants across the country. The company was formerly majority-owned by founder Jim Weiland. Rentec Direct, whose software enables landlords to process rent payments and automate other …

Marqeta Inc. early Thursday said it has become the first card-issuing platform to adopt technology announced earlier this year by Visa Inc. that lets cardholders toggle among a variety of payment methods for a single card rather than be restricted to the payment type indicated by the card itself. Oakland, …

Buy now, pay later provider Sezzle Inc. has added Spanish-language capability to its app. The addition is expected to broaden Sezzle’s appeal among Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States. There are more than 40 million Spanish-speaking consumers in the United States, according to Sezzle, while Spanish-speaking customers represent about 22% …