Despite tentative signs of an economic recovery from the coronavirus-induced depression, some experts are forecasting a gloomy outlook for store closures as the year plays out and merchants struggle with debt loads and a consumer shift to e-commerce. At least 20,000, and as many as 25,000, stores will likely shut …

The economy is slowly thawing from its Covid-19 freeze-up, but many card-accepting merchants are struggling with more chargebacks stemming from canceled trips, non-delivery of goods, or other reasons. And some of them also are dealing with demands from their merchant acquirers for more cash to fund reserve accounts. Payments and …

More evidence that consumers are finally adopting contactless payments emerged  as Cardknox, a payment gateway, noted a 150% increase in contactless payment use from just from November to April. Announced Thursday, the increase, albeit lacking volume details, indicates consumers’ mindfulness about reducing physical contact with point-of-sale terminals. Cardknox said some of …

ISOs tap into card issuing revenue One of the biggest challenges for small businesses is the availability of credit according to a recent study* by the Federal Reserve. Many merchants address this by taking out short-term business loans or using personal credit cards to bridge the gap. While credit cards …

Fully 25% of U.S. merchants that accept payment cards experienced a drop of 56% or more in card volume in April compared with February, finds a new study from The Strawhecker Group. After analyzing billions of transactions from more than 1 million card-accepting merchants across the United States, the Omaha, …

The Covid-19 impact continues to make itself known in the payments arena. Consumers are increasingly favoring debit cards, especially now that many have received $1,200 stimulus payments. And merchants using the Clover point-of-sale system now have access to online ordering on the platform. Consumers increased their debit card spending 6.6% …