By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Payments networks face a competitive landscape marked by rapid innovation, so the two biggest systems, Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., are responding by increasing the access developers have to their once tightly guarded skunk works. The latest move comes Wednesday from MasterCard, which announced MasterCard Developers. …

• Payments processor Vantiv Inc. said its eProtect payment-security service now works with Android Pay. Vantiv also announced its validated point-to-point encryption service now includes VeriFone Systems Inc. point-of-sale equipment. • PayPal Holdings Inc. said consumers now can make PayPal payments using PayLease, a payments and billing platform for property …

• Processor Fiserv Inc. said ATM services provider FCTI Inc., a U.S. affiliate of convenience-store giant 7-Eleven Inc.’s Japan-based parent company, picked it to provide transaction processing for 7-Eleven’s nearly 8,000 U.S. ATMs when FCTI takes over the portfolio next July from Cardtronics plc. • Payment technology provider ACI Worldwide …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews A federal appeals court on Monday handed American Express Co. a signal victory in the age-old battle with merchants over card-acceptance costs, but in doing so it may also have bolstered the card giant in its efforts to set and enforce merchant pricing. The U.S. Court …

• E-commerce marketplace Rakuten.com will allow merchants outside the United States to sell to U.S. customers and collect payments in their local currency through a new arrangement with processor Payoneer. • First National Bank of Pennsylvania added a feature called CardGuard to its mobile-banking app that lets users turn their …

• Avidia Bank announced it is offering same-day ACH payments using technology supplied by linked2pay, a payments-technology company. • Fuel-pump manufacturer and convenience-store technology provider Gilbarco Veeder-Root said Colbea Inc., which does business as Seasons Corner Market, is installing Gilbarco’s Passport Point of Sale system to handle EMV chip card payments …

By John Stewart@DTPaymentNews Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s deal with JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s ChaseNet processing network, announced Thursday morning, proves that the nation’s biggest retailer can make peace with the big card brands if the terms are right. And it may indicate bigger prospects for Chase’s ambitious merchant-acquiring operation. Under the …

• U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is expected to announce a crackdown on a global mail-fraud scheme that allegedly stole millions of dollars from elderly victims, CNNMoney reported. At the center of the investigation is an Canadian processor named PacNet Services Ltd. that reportedly deposited many of the victims’ checks. …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Companies that have been planning for months for the arrival Friday of same-day automated clearing house payments are getting ready to pounce, and one of the first opportunities lies in platform payouts. Des Moines, Iowa-based Dwolla Inc., for example, on Wednesday is announcing a new feature …

• The total value of contactless transactions worldwide will reach nearly $500 billion next year, up fully 56% from an estimated $321 billion in 2016, according to Juniper Research. • Samsung Electronics America Inc. said more than 500,000 replacement Galaxy Note7 phablets have arrived in the U.S. and will be available …