The Accredited Standards Committee X9 Inc. has begun work on a new QR code payments standard. The goal is to establish the content of a QR code for payments, emphasize interoperability, and include both merchant-presented and consumer-presented QR codes. X9 said the standard is needed to accelerate the adoption of instant payments. Block …

Payments has always been an acquisitive business, as economies of scale loom large for CEOs and CFOs and buying that scale can often look cheaper and quicker than building it over time. But so far, activity in 2024 is mapping to what was seen last year—which is to say, slow. …

Merchants’ disdain for interchange is well documented, but one aspect of card-acceptance costs that gets drowned out by the outcry over interchange is that rising processing fees are hitting merchants harder than interchange hikes, according to some observers. Processors’ rate hikes have been running between 0.25% and 1.5% in recent …

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. announced it is working with US Foods Holding Corp., a large foodservice distributor, to sell Lightspeed’s payments technology for restaurants in the U.S. market. Embedded payments provider i3 Verticals Inc. reported $56 million in fiscal third-quarter revenue, down 2.3% from $57.3 million year-over-year. Its net loss increased to $8.3 million …

Having finished what its chief executive called “a very busy quarter,” the major processor Shift4 Payments Inc. early Thursday reviewed recent moves in acquisitions, stadium deals, and point-of-sale technology, both for its longstanding position in the U.S. hospitality market and overseas. Even more ambitious initiatives are looming, promised chief executive …

Drug store chain Walgreens announced it is enabling online SNAP/EBT payment acceptance via Instacart nationwide at more than 7,500 Walgreens stores, including more than 100 Duane Reade stores in New York. Most Walgreens locations already accept SNAP/EBT payments in store. Walgreens also added DoorDash Inc.’s SNAP/EBT acceptance earlier this year. In related news, Instacart also announced …

Another grocery chain is adding Caper smart shopping carts to its store, Instacart announced. Meanwhile, convenience-store chain Stinker Stores has adopted point-of-sale technology from NCR Voyix. San Francisco-based Instacart says Davis Food & Drug, which operates three stores in Utah, will replace most of its traditional shopping carts with Caper …

As bakery chain Paris Baguette refreshes its rewards program and its mobile app, its online-ordering process has also been updated with help from Olo Inc. In related news, Elo Touch Solutions Inc. releases a 22-inch contactless payment-enabled device. Moonachie, N.J.-based Paris Baguette, which has 160 U.S. locations, according to its …

Aurora Payments, a payments-technology developer, said it has worked with payments-hardware firm Sunmi and software developer Proxet to introduce a new line of point-of-sale terminals they say is designed for small businesses. The Western Union Co. reported processing 73.3 consumer-money transactions in the second quarter, up 3.8% year-over-year, while revenue in the segment …

Value-added resellers and independent software vendors enticed by the attractiveness of surcharging and cash-discount programs find there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for enrolling merchants. Questions about the programs abound at RetailNow 2024, the annual conference sponsored by the Retail Solutions Providers Association and in progress this week in Las Vegas. The …