• Merchant processor Vantiv Inc. announced it will work with data-science specialist Womply to offer Vantiv BizShield and Insights, a service for small and medium-sized merchants that offers real-time data, advanced analytics, online reputation management, and threat management. • Processor Global Payments Inc.’s Campus Solutions unit has introduced TouchNet OneCard VIP, which manages access to …

The Fed will soon release its long-awaited report on faster payments. Will it help the U.S. catch up with other countries? They’ve been slow in coming, but faster electronic payments soon will be arriving in the U.S. The upside lies in the phrase “faster payments,” with various proposals calling for …

• Punchh, provider of mobile loyalty systems for restaurants, has introduced a chatbot that allows customers to “converse” with dining clients on Facebook Messenger, Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa, and other platforms. Punchh says the chatbot integrates “quickly and easily” with existing point-of-sale, loyalty, and ordering programs. • Royal Bank of Canada said …

The Zelle person-to-person payments service is about to take on a public face as bank-owned parent company Early Warning Services LLC readies a multifaceted marketing campaign for rollout in the coming weeks and months. “I would say it’s a significant marketing campaign focused on awareness,” Melissa Lowry, vice president of …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews How enthusiastic are consumers about shopping on their smart phones and tablets? Enough that mobile commerce grew to $22.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, up 45% from $15.6 billion in the same period a year prior, says comScore Inc., a Reston, Va.-based data-measurement firm. That …

As POS systems gain ground, vendors strive to keep merchants happy with more than single-purpose payment terminals. Enter the app store. Adaptability as a survival mechanism not only has a role in nature, but in the payments arena, too. One area where that’s manifested is in the adoption of a …

Travel providers have new options for accommodating how consumers use their smart phones to pay for travel. Ticketing-software vendor Rambus Ecebs has introduced a set of products for mobile ticketing that rely on host card emulation to load smart cards into smart phones. Host card emulation enables download of payment credentials via …

• The Electronic Transactions Association announced its 2017 board of directors and officers, including Jeff Sloan, CEO of merchant processor Global Payments Inc., as chairman and president. An Apple Inc. executive also is serving a two-year term on the board—Eric Hoffman, director of Internet software and services. • The Federal Trade Commission is challenging the public …

Developing a point-of-sale app to operate on a tablet is but one ingredient necessary for catering to the payment-processing needs of hospitality merchants. Hospitality merchants have long been a favored customer base for many acquirers and independent sales organizations. For example, Heartland Payment Systems, now part of Global Payments Inc., …

They sell products, answer questions, and take payments in a process called conversational commerce. Just how much potential do chatbots really have? It’s been one of those days. You could use a drink. But you’re traveling on business, and you’re not sure where the local bars are. And you’re not …