If the nation’s second-largest bank is any indication, total consumer payments are booming despite the pandemic, while digital alternatives are gaining ground fast, in part because of the pandemic. Bank of America Corp. reported early Monday spending by consumer customers in January rose 17% compared to January last year, resulting …

Given the wild success of buy now, pay later loans, it’s no surprise fraudsters have found a way to get in the game. To help card issuers offering BNPL installment options post-purchase reduce the risk of fraud, Outseer, an authentication subsidiary of Bedford, Mass.-based data-security services provider RSA, on Wednesday …

Small-business satisfaction with merchant processors stands at 859 on a scale of 1,000, up 23 points from 2021, according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Merchant Services Satisfaction Study. Banks lead the way in the survey, with Bank of America and Chase ranking first and second, followed by Square.Payments provider Payliance announced it …

Theft of loyalty points has become a serious issue in the travel industry. But is it being taken seriously by hotels and airlines? With a new year comes new optimism that there will be a return to activities like travel. Some consumers will log in to book travel for the …

It’s become more common and harder to detect. Here are some measures that can help cut it down to size. Forced to work from home during Covid-19, accounts-payable departments have accelerated plans to move away from paper checks and pay more of their suppliers through the automated clearing house. That, …

Governments are moving closer to issuing digital money. That could introduce some benefits—but also many risks and complications. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are coming, slowly but inevitably. They can be retail (for use by consumers and businesses), wholesale (for use between financial institutions), or both. Evangelists enthuse they’ll improve …

Consumers have turned to mobile and desktop buying in record numbers. Merchants and processors are figuring out how to sustain the surge. E-commerce has been booming since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and is showing no signs of slowing down. In 2021, online consumer spending totaled a record $855 …

Full-service restaurants, one of the hardest-hit merchant segments at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, showed signs of a rebound in 2021, according to research by TouchBistro Inc., a provider of POS and restaurant-management applications. Findings from TouchBistro’s third annual “State of Full-Service Restaurants Report” reveals that 74% of full-service restaurants …

With the Covid-19 pandemic helping fuel broad adoption of Quick Response codes by merchants for payments and ordering, it was only a matter of time before criminals exploited the contactless technology. Fraudsters are creating fake QR codes that, when scanned, take consumers to a bogus landing page that collects payment …

Visa Inc.’s top executives made it plain Thursday afternoon that the story of the company’s growth into the near future is threefold, including cryptocurrency, cross-border transactions, and the buy now, pay later trend. “Visa is enabling scale for BNPL, crypto, and wallets,” Visa chief executive Alfred Kelly told equity analysts …