A fraud ring that appears to be based in Southeast Asia is targeting U.S. retailers and has already committed an estimated $660 million in fraud in stolen laptops, cell phones, computer chips, gaming devices, and other goods just in November, said Signifyd, an online-fraud prevention firm. Signifyd said it has been tracking …

Payments-technology provider Finastra said Mechanics Cooperative Bank, a financial institution with $645 million in assets, has adopted the Finastra Payments To Go platform to offer real-time payments via The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC and later through the Federal Reserve’s FedNow network. Digital-security provider IronVest Inc. launched what it calls a “super app” for …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered Wells Fargo Bank to pay $3.7 billion, including a $1.7-billon civil penalty and $2 billion in redress to consumers, for what the bureau says were illegal fees and interest charges on auto and mortgage loans, incorrect charges on checking and savings accounts, and other “incorrect” …

Customers new to using Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment network operated by Early Warning Services LLC, have higher levels of engagement with their financial institutions than customers not using Zelle. That’s according to a recent study conducted by Early Warning and Curinos, a provider of data and technology technologies to financial …

Phishing attacks continue to set record highs. The third quarter of 2022 was the highest quarter on record for number of attacks, according to the latest Anti-Phishing Working Group’s Phishing Activity Trends report, released Wednesday. The APWG observed 1,270,883 phishing attacks during the September quarter, up 16% from a then-record …

Prizeout Corp., an adtech firm and e-gift card issuer, has partnered with Square to enable Square merchants to integrate their Square account with Prizeout’s platform. The integration will streamline e-gift settlement for Square merchants on transactions managed by Prizeout. In addition, Square merchants will be able to make their e-gift …

BTRS Holdings Inc., also known as Billtrust, said it will go private on Dec. 16 through a merger with an affiliate of EQT X Fund. The business-to-business payments provider went public in January 2021 through a merger with South Mountain Merger Corp., a special purpose acquisition corporation, or SPAC. Payments provider ACI Worldwide said it …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has become a much more active regulator of payments and other financial industries since the onset of the Biden Administration, and on Monday the agency lent further momentum to that trend. The 11-year-old federal agency is now asking for public comment on a proposal that …

Point-of-sale system maker TouchBistro released its 2023 “State of Restaurants” report that found 76% of restaurant operators changed their POS systems in the past year and 66% used a system with an integrated payment processing service. The study, now in its fifth year, was based on research from 600 full service restaurant …

Not all countries, companies, and persons will suffer equally from inflation in 2023, as Europe will see a decline in economic activity while the U.S. market will experience limited economic growth, forecasts the Mastercard Economics Institute. Food-service provider Sodexo North America’s InReach unit has contracted with payments provider Cantaloupe to upgrade 18,800 vending machiens and …