The explosive potential that lies in recent advances in artificial intelligence is beginning to be felt in the payments business as banks and fintechs search for ways to wring intelligible trends and operational improvements out of enormous masses of data. The nascent trend toward AI in payments was underscored by …

Toast Inc., provider of popular payment and business-management systems for restaurants, is testing a 99-cent fee for online orders of $10 and above that the company could roll out nationwide next month. The test is generating criticism from restaurateurs on social media and debate in the merchant-acquiring industry about pricing …

Criminals can purchase more than just stolen card account numbers on the so-called dark Web. A recent study by virtual private network provider NordVPN reveals that 51.5% of cards on the dark Web came with addresses, 39.8% came with phone numbers, and 28.7% came with an e-mail address. In addition, …

Digital-banking platform Tyfone Inc. said it will work with One Credit Union to offer a real-time payment service certified for FedNow, the national real-time payments system that the Federal Reserve is expected to launch next month. Jane Technologies Inc. introduced a point-of-sale system customized for cannabis stores. Smart Pay has launched its Smart Pay …

The new revenue opportunity associated with online gambling compels many payments companies to court gaming providers. Blackhawk Network, the prepaid card specialist, is the latest to do this with the expansion of its Game On card to Maryland, Kansas, and Wyoming. Game On cards enable consumers add funds to their …

Helcim Inc., a Calgary, Alberta-based payments provider, launched its Helcim Smart Terminal, which it says carries no contract or monthly fees. The device, which uses the Android operating system, is priced at $349 (C$429) and will be available this summer. Among its technical capabilities is a built-in printer, a large …

For decades, payments providers have sought to displace cash by attempting to move merchants toward card-based and digital payments, arguing that they are faster, more convenient, and more secure to accept than cash. Now they are finding that proponents of cash acceptance are pushing back. Late Thursday, legislation was reintroduced …

Cash App and Venmo, peer-to-peer payment services from Block Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc., respectively, are under scrutiny from four U.S. senators over their fraud-protection efforts. In letters dated June 15 and sent to each company, the senators requested data on the volume of fraud reports the networks have received …

Although the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to develop a federal regulation governing the protection of consumer financial data shared through open banking, the agency says that open banking will be best served if it does not “micromanage” open banking itself. In October, the CFPB announced its intention to develop regulation …

Few retail markets have rebounded from Covid lockdowns as fast as restaurants have. And few have attracted as much attention from payments companies. No wonder. Sales at what the National Restaurant Association calls “eating and drinking places” in the United States totaled $88.1 billion in April, up 0.6% from March. …