Nacha, the automated clearing house rules maker, and its Payments Innovation Alliance, a group of corporations, third-party processors, fintechs, and financial institutions, expanded the ACH Quick Start Tool, which helps smaller businesses learn about the ACH.Also, Nacha launched the Faster Payments Project Team to help organizations learn about faster payments and its capabilities.Starting Jan. …

Retail sales, excluding the automotive and gasoline categories, grew 3% in the Oct. 11 to Dec. 24 period year-over-year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. E-commerce sales volume grew 49% in the same period compared to the year-ago period.Some Walmart stores in north Alabama stopped accepting credit cards when the stores’ Internet service failed owing …

The payments industry operates on a continuum of varying degrees of politicization, imposed and self-imposed. For maximizing value, less is better. Increased politicization will challenge the payments industry in 2021. U.S. regulators have already exercised enormous discretionary power over payments, sometimes lawlessly. Hatched by the Department of Justice in 2013, …

MoneyGram International Inc. said it is will “continue to monitor for any potential impact” from a recent lawsuit against cryptocurrency payments firm Ripple Labs and two top executives by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. MoneyGram has used Ripple’s foreign exchange blockchain since June 2019 to trade in four currencies, though the company …

NCR Corp. said Big Y Foods Inc., with 85 New England locations, selected the NCR Emerald point-of-sale system for its checkouts.With the pandemic shutting down casinos, gambling is moving online, where the volume of wagers is expected to nearly double to $92.9 billion in 2023 from $59 billion this year, Statista forecasts.Payments provider Paysafe …

Bill payment provider Plastiq launched cash payments, which allows users to make any payment through a linked bank account. Plastiq already enables bill payment via credit cards.InComm Payments has launched an App Store card in Taiwan in partnership with Apple Inc. The cards are being sold through 9,500 7-Eleven and FamilyMart stores on …

Card-not-present transactions continue to grow at financial institutions that use PSCU, a credit union service organization. In its weekly report released Monday, PSCU said CNP accounted for 55.5% of credit card purchase volume and 47.9% of transactions for the week ending Dec. 13. For debit, CNP represented 43.9% of purchase …

Mega-merger fever hasn’t subsided in the payments industry. A combination of FIS Inc. and Global Payments Inc., which have reportedly broken off talks to merge in a deal that could be valued at $70 billion, would represent a continued push for yet more economies of scale in a business whose …

Fast-food chain Burger King is depositing $1 into random Venmo accounts to promote the chain’s $1 Your Way Menu, which features all items at a price of $1. Venmo is a peer-to-peer payments provider owned by PayPal Holdings Inc.Blackhawk Network said it has added a capability to order gift cards for curbside pickup …

WinCo Foods, a grocery chain with 129 stores in the Western United States, has launched a gift card program from Blackhawk Network.Buy now, pay later service Zip announced an offer of 3% cash back on purchases on its service during the Christmas season through Jan. 8. Zip recently launched Tap & Zip, which …