On the one hand, fraud losses continue a seemingly inexorable rise. On the other, there are positive steps businesses can take to mitigate those losses. Earlier this year, the AFP (the Association for Financial Professionals) published its annual “Payments Fraud and Control Survey,” which looks at trends in business-payments fraud …

The four global U.S.-based payment card networks unveiled their joint e-commerce buy button this week, which means merchants, merchant acquirers, and processors can look forward to—or dread—implementing it. Visa Inc. chairman and chief executive Alfred F. Kelly Jr. predicted Thursday they shouldn’t have too many problems. The button is based …

There’s little doubt that Apple Inc.’s Apple Card has stirred plenty of publicity before and since its Aug. 20 launch. And it enjoys the backing not just of Apple but of investment-banking giant Goldman Sachs, the card’s issuer. But is it “the most successful credit card launch ever?” That claim …

Unattended-payments provider USA Technologies Inc. announced late Wednesday that it has filed overdue financial reports for its fiscal years 2019 and 2018 ended June 30, as well as several late quarterly reports. The company also restated financial data for some periods dating back to fiscal 2015. The new filings and …

The London-based financial-services technology provider Finastra said Wednesday that it has agreed to offer blockchain technology from Ripple Labs Inc. for cross-border payments processed by its client institutions. In related news, more than 1,500 firms have inquired with the Libra Association about joining the group, the association said, in the …

The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently notified cybersecurity companies about attacks that could defeat multifactor authentication systems protecting sensitive online personal and financial data, systems usually considered much stronger than two-factor authentication combinations such as user names and passwords. The FBI last month quietly sent a so-called private-industry notification (PIN)—a …

The Federal Reserve, which is taking industry comments on its upcoming FedNow real-time payments network until Nov. 7, said common questions so far involve pricing and the scope of the service. The first question can’t be answered yet, and the second touches on services that will be designed by financial institutions building on top …

Historically, ACH processing hasn’t been a big item on most merchants’ wish lists. That could change soon as efforts to make it more merchant-friendly intensify. With all the discussion of faster payments and real-time payments, often synonymous but not always, one payments network continues to attract merchants. The automated clearing …

A new analysis says insurance companies are particularly vulnerable to e-commerce fraud, and a recent report says a second round of data breaches has occurred at cities that use the Click2Gov application for payment of utility bills, parking tickets, and related municipal payments. It’s practically an iron law that as …

With fintechs nipping at their heels, the payment card networks are buying up companies big and small in a range of industries. How far will the networks venture beyond their core business—and at what price? Mergers and acquisitions tend to come in fits and starts, and lately M&A activity involving …