The numbers are in, and it turns out the holiday shopping season was not only better than expected, but also better than the one in 2019, weeks before the coronavirus pandemic struck in the United States. Retail sales in November and December totaled $789.4 billion, up a healthy 8.3% over …

Payments provider Pineapple Payments announced Friday it has acquired 1st Payment Systems, a provider of private-label payment processing and omni-channel payment technology for integrated software vendors (ISV) in the powersports and health-care industries. Terms were not disclosed.  The acquisition strengthens 1st Payment’s ability to service its customers by leveraging Pineapple’s Transax …

Online account debiting has grown in usage and prominence as consumers and businesses turn to e-commerce in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. But now many businesses are reckoning with a rule that will take effect in March that requires sellers using the automated clearing house to perform more rigorous …

As consumers’ comfort level with online sports betting grows, a quick and frictionless payout of winnings will play a key role in their choice of an online gaming vendor, says a study released Thursday by payment-platform provider Paysafe Group. Of the more than 2,000 online-sports bettors surveyed by Paysafe across …

Vanco Payment Solutions Inc., a payments provider specializing in the educational and faith-based sectors, said it acquired SmartcareOS LLC, a software provider for child-care centers. Terms were not announced.Entrust Corp., a provider of technology for identity, payments, and data protection, announced it acquired HyTrust Inc., a vendor of data-encryption, key …

Standards are the prerogative of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for most industries around the world. According to ISO, “ISO standards are internationally agreed by experts” and “should be thought of as a formula that describes the best way of doing something.”  Unfortunately, the roles of ISO and its …

Visa Inc. has dropped its year-old, $5.3-billion bid for the data network Plaid Inc. in the wake of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The DoJ feared Visa could use Plaid’s links to financial institutions to stifle competition in the debit market, a contention Visa denied.The big drugstore chain Walgreen …

Unlike many fintech startups, Walmart’s Inc.’s new financial company is expected to be a formidable player right out of the gate. The retail giant unveiled plans late Monday to partner with Ribbit Capital to create a fintech that will provide what Walmart describes as “modern, innovative, and affordable financial solutions.” …

As part a strategy to widen its market for banking solutions, Green Dot Corp. Wednesday launched GO2bank, a mobile-banking application intended to help the 7.1 million unbanked households in the United States manage their finances.  Green Dot says it is launching the program as a way to eliminate the costly …

Payments platform Qualpay said it is now supporting Google Pay transactions in recognition of increasing consumer usage of mobile wallets.Payments-technology provider Cardknox launched a beta version of its partner portal, intended for the use of sales partners and independent sales vendors to onboard and manage merchant-processing accounts.Digital-payments provider Payrailz has launched Action Insights, a service intended …