It may be headquartered in Leawood, Kan., but payment-services provider Euronet Worldwide Inc. looks abroad for most of its revenues. Thanks to a new deal with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., however, Euronet’s Ria unit is about to become a major force in domestic wire transfers. Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart on Thursday unveiled …

Consumers wanting a way to make online payments with some anonymity may be able to use the new Pay in Private virtual prepaid card service available as an iPhone or Android app. n “It’s not a solution for everybody,” Klein tells Digital Transactions News. “It’s a solution for a segment …

Though it has attracted fervent enthusiasts, Bitcoin in the end offers less than meets the eye, says Eric Grover. For an electronic-payment system, the lack of central accountability is a flaw, not a feature. Eric Grover is principal at Intrepid Ventures, Minden, Nev. Reach him at eric.grover@intrepidventures.com. Bitcoin mania is …

Might the Bitcoin digital currency be heading toward legitimacy among skeptical regulators and law-enforcement officials? Testimony at a U.S. Senate committee hearing Monday indicated that government may be ready to make peace with Bitcoin and, by extension, other new digital forms of payment, though if and when these new systems …

By Jim Daly A summer poll of payments executives found that less than a third think Bitcoin and other so-called math-based virtual currencies will greatly change how money is moved within 10 years. But majorities, some strong, also think that Bitcoin will spur responses from PayPal Inc., the big wire-transfer …

Critics say state-by-state money-transfer licenses deter payments startups and entrench incumbents. Defenders say they protect the public. What’s really going on? By Jim Daly Christopher Ferro, who heads up legal and compliance operations at digital wire-transfer company Xoom Corp., was pleased. It was Sept. 5, and he had just opened …

Investors may be disappointed with Apple Inc. in the wake of that tech giant’s introduction of two new iPhone models, but they’re plenty happy with digital wire-transfer company Xoom Corp. San Francisco-based Xoom on Tuesday raised $85.6 million in a new stock offering, about $20 million more than it expected …

Mike Duffy, president and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Chase Paymentech merchant-acquiring subsidiary and one of the acquiring industry’s most prominent figures, died Thursday after a long illness. “It is difficult to put into words how much Mike will be missed,” said Gordon Smith, chief executive of Chase …

Jane Adler Facing pricing pressures from new competitors in their traditional business, the wire-transfer companies are seeking new growth opportunities. New technology is highly disruptive to established markets, and the payments business is no exception. Consider recent developments in the traditional wire-transfer business. As technology and consumer demand change the …

Open-loop prepaid cards are slowly but steadily gaining market share and now account for nearly 40% of the market, but closed-loop prepaid cards, especially gift cards, remain highly popular with consumers. The 9th annual study of the prepaid card market by Mercator Advisory Group Inc., released in August, shows volumes …