With proposals aimed at controlling merchants’ costs for accepting credit cards having re-emerged in Congress, research has been emerging on both sides of the issue this summer as advocates for sellers and card issuers compete to influence any eventual legislation. The latest thrust appeared Monday with a research report arguing …

FIS Inc. is the latest processor to be certified for the Federal Reserve’s FedNow real-time payments network, which is scheduled to launch later this month. FIS, which announced yesterday it is selling a sell a 55% interest in its merchant-processing business, joins a growing list of certified FedNow participants, including  ACI …

Spotify, the digital-music service, has notified long-time customers it will no longer support payments from Apple Inc.’s App Store for premium subscriptions. Those customers who use the Apple service will be moved to Spotify’s free service and must transition to an alternative, such as PayPal or a credit card, for …

Merchant Lynx Services has acquired National Credit Card Processing Group, a provider of B2B payment solutions, for an undisclosed sum. National Card Processing specializes in payment acceptance for the construction and heavy-duty trucking parts and repairs, concrete ready mix, asphalt and aggregate supply, and highway civil construction industries. The acquisition …

The global digital gift card market is projected to reach $1.2 trillion in 2032, up from $310.1 billion in 2022, according to a report from market research firm Custom Market Insights. In 2023, CMI projects sales of digital gift cards will total $399 billion, a more than 28% year over …

FIS Inc. is talking to the private-equity firm GTCR LLC about taking a majority stake in the Jacksonville, Fla.-based company’s merchant-processing business, according to a report late Monday from Reuters. The report indicates the talks are “advanced” and value the stake at between $15 billion and $20 billion. The latest …

An overwhelming risk-management burden, coupled with a lack of familiarity with consumer credit, may have triggered the decision at Goldman Sachs Group to negotiate a withdrawal from its agreement to support Apple Inc.’s credit card and its recently launched buy now, pay later service, according to observers. The Wall Street …

FedNow, the nation’s second real-time payments network set to debut in late July, says 41 financial institutions, 15 service providers, and the U.S. Department of the Treasury will be ready to send and receive transactions. All 57 have completed certification and testing for FedNow. The Federal Reserve said in 2019 …

Visa Inc. said Wednesday it has struck a definitive agreement to acquire Brazilian financial and payments processor Pismo Soluções Tecnologicas Ltda. for $1 billion in cash. The deal strengthens Visa’s presence in fast-growing Latin America and gives it access to technological services that can be taken abroad. Founded only in …

Fulfilling a promise it made seven months ago, Block Inc.’s Square merchant-acquiring unit on Wednesday announced it will offer an American Express-branded credit card to its sellers that gives rewards in the form of lower processing costs. Square also announced several enhancements to its financial services to get more of …