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, …

Consumers using the Phillips 66, Conoco, or 76-branded smart-phone apps soon will be able to pay for fuel using their checking accounts thanks to an integration with Buy It Mobility Networks, a New York City-based payment and customer relationship management platform. Announced Tuesday, the service will be available soon, says …

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, …

Global Payments Inc. is making the transaction data its merchants generate easier for them to access and use. The Atlanta-based processor launched Heartland Analytics Monday. The service, available to U.S. merchants, is designed for small and mid-size businesses in the restaurant and hospitality industries. The service enables them to view …

The Federal Reserve released the names of 27 payments-industry executives who will serve on a work group focused on developing a governance framework for faster payments in the United States. Fifty-five percent of U.S. credit and debit card spend is now on chip cards and 96% of the top 200 …

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 …

Convenience-store chain Sheetz Inc. announced it is upgrading the forecourts of its more than 500 locations with EMV acceptance at the pump. The new equipment from Gilbarco Veeder-Root was jointly developed with VeriFone Systems Inc. In addition to EMV acceptance, the technology supports mobile wallets, encryption, barcode scanning, and contactless …

NCR Corp. is entering the fray to get payment-processing deals with micromerchants. The Duluth, Ga.-based point-of-sale technology company this week launched Ring Up by NCR Silver, a POS service specifically designed for merchants with less than $100,000 in annual revenue. The service uses a magnetic stripe and EMV-compatible Bluetooth reader …

In the age of electronic payments, cash is getting more and more expensive—even when accessed via electronic means. Nationwide, it costs consumers $4.69 to withdraw money from a so-called out-of-network ATM. That’s up 2.6% from a year ago, according to the latest data from Bankrate Inc., a New York City-based …