First Data Corp. made it official: it is acquiring merchant processor BluePay Holdings Inc. for $760 million in cash. BluePay processes $19 billion annually for 77,000 merchants and is integrated into more than 450 software platforms. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. First Data inadvertently …

Issuers, merchants, and processors all share the same dilemma when attempting to authenticate an online identity. They are bedeviled by personally identifiable information easily accessible to criminals that they can use to spoof authentic consumers. In response, Visa Inc. on Thursday announced the Visa ID Intelligence service, which it says …

From the Oops Department: First Data Corp. early Thursday quickly removed from its Web site an inadvertently posted press release saying it had a deal to acquire independent sales organization BluePay Holdings Inc. “First Data confirmed that it is currently in discussions with BluePay with respect to a potential transaction, …

For U.S. Bancorp’s Elavon unit, merchant-processing revenues were down slightly in the third quarter, to $405 million, compared to a year ago, according to the bank’s earnings release. But revenue year to date is up 0.2%, at $1.19 billion, compared to the same period in 2016. Payment card manufacturer CPI …

Visa Inc. reported Tuesday that it has invested in Billtrust and is working with the business-to-business payments provider to streamline the reconciliation of B2B payments and increase the automation of virtual card payments for financial institutions and their corporate customers. The companies did not reveal the size of Visa’s investment, …

Fuel-payments specialist P97 Networks and Buy It Mobility Networks, an automated clearing house-based payment and consumer-engagement provider, said they will provide ACH-based payment and related services to Phillips 66, Conoco, and 76-branded fuel stations. In 2016, P97 said it was working with Chase Pay on a payments service for Phillips …

Money transfers took a step toward app-based processing on Monday with news that BBVA is launching a service that will let persons in the United States use their smart phones to send money to recipients in Mexico. Later, the service will expand to the Caribbean and the rest of Latin …

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a controversial antitrust case in which American Express Co. is defending its anti-steering rules for merchants against challenges from 11 states led by Ohio, Reuters reported. Payments provider TransCard Payments LLC announced a partnership with ExpenseAnywhere, an accounts-payable software developer. Travel Centers of America …

American Express Co. announced its Business Loans service that will provide unsecured loans of $3,500 to $50,000 for small businesses; holders of AmEx business cards can apply online and receive a decision in as little as 60 seconds, AmEx said. ProPay, a merchant-acquiring subsidiary of processor Total System Services Inc. …

Bill.com said it secured $100 million in a funding round led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek Holdings, bringing total investment in the business-payment network to more than $200 million; the company plans to use the funds for network expansion and to accelerate its distribution among …