Step Mobile Inc., a startup financial-services firm focusing on teens, raised $22.5 million in a Series A funding round led by payment processor Stripe Inc. Nearly 51% of retailers surveyed for the latest annual loss-prevention and security report from the National Retail Federation said risks and threats from return fraud, …

With last week’s introduction of contactless card acceptance on New York City subway and bus systems, hopes are riding high on mass transit to at last stimulate contactless acceptance and usage in the United States. Now recent research indicates acceptance is picking up rapidly pretty much everywhere.  The number of …

The Western Union Co. said it will enable Visa Inc.’s Visa Direct real-time push-payment service. The move follows the remittance-processing company’s announcement in late 2017 that it would adopt Mastercard Inc.’s rival service, Mastercard Send. Merchant processor VizyPay launched a program called Cash Discount 2.0, which calls for merchants to …

PayFi, which provides a banking platform, said it will offer real-time payments services from The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC to community banks. Most U.S. consumers—38%—are likely to use a credit card for online subscription payments, finds a report from GoCardless, a recurring-payments company. Thirty-four percent choose a debit card, …

May became the first negative month of 2019 for payments stocks as worries about tariffs and an economic slowdown as a result gripped the wider market. Chicago-based Barrington Research Associates Inc. reported Monday that a 29-company group of transaction-processor stocks posted a mean return of negative 2.57% last month. Only …

For decades, PIN entry has been restricted to specialized hardware devices, such as PIN pads on ATMs and at the point of sale. On Monday, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based software company headed by a former Visa Inc. executive said it will start offering to retailers in Japan its technology for …

i3 Verticals Inc. completed its $52.7 million acquisition of Pace Payment Systems Inc. Pace specializes in selling payments services in the public and education sectors. Avis Car Rental, a unit of Avis Budget Group Inc., launched a split-payment feature in its mobile app. Called Split My Bill, the feature enables …

The ducks are lining up for U.S. contactless payments with dual-interface cards, but they’re not all in a row yet. Outdated POS terminals and certification issues still stand in the way. Forget the swipe, and even the dip. Tapping plastic cards is the wave of the future, in the eyes …

Payments observers are tempted to think of the $21.5 billion proposed merger of Global Payments Inc. and Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), announced Tuesday, as the latest megadeal in a series initiated in January when Fiserv Inc. said it would acquire First Data Corp. That announcement was followed by the …

Fitbit Inc. said its smart watches and trackers with Fitbit Pay can be used to pay for transportation on seven major transit systems globally, as well as on the contactless OMNY system set for launch May 31 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. Multiple law firms are …