Last month’s disclosure that hackers accessed up to 143 million credit records at Equifax Inc. has stirred fears of a tsunami of fraud in coming months. But it turns out physical and online merchants are already struggling not only with a huge threat of fraud, but with a stunning fraud …

If you get rich betting on a certain currency, does that make that currency real? Or must people and businesses agree to accept it as payment for goods and services? If these are the criteria for establishing whether Bitcoin is “real” or not, the 8-year-old cryptocurrency has passed the first …

Merchants say a policy from the card networks short-circuits their choice in the digital wallets they accept and stifles innovation. Honor-all-cards, meet honor-all-wallets. Mention the card companies’ honor-all-wallets (sometimes also referred to as honor-all-devices) policy to a merchant and his blood pressure is sure to spike. Honor-all-wallets rules require card-accepting …

Despite obstacles, payment processors and fintechs increasingly are looking at cross-border e-commerce for high-growth opportunities. Go global. That’s the credo an increasing number of payment processors and financial-technology firms subscribe to as technology transforms cross-border commerce from yesterday’s luxury into an attainable option for consumers today. Researcher Talie Baker, a …

With the rise of the independent software vendor, do traditional independent sales organizations still have a role to play—and if they do, what is it? That question may have been unthinkable a few years ago, but now some observers see ISVs shoving ISOs aside as they code new applications for …

Grocer Whole Foods Market, now a unit of Amazon.com Inc., said it is investigating a breach of the point-of-sale software used in its taprooms and full-service restaurants in some of its stores. Whole Foods did not say how many locations or how many cards are affected. It said the payment system for the …

It was just over a month ago that a ranking U.S. Department of Justice official told Congress that Operation Choke Point had ended. But the ATM Industry Association on Wednesday said it is distributing materials to its members to help them deal with the “lingering impact” of the controversial program. …

Merchant processor Square Inc. will provide payment services to Eventbrite Inc., which provides a platform for ticket sales, and will invest $25 million in the company, Square announced Thursday. Earlier, Square said it will make Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay service available to merchants using its Square Checkout online service. Square said …

Add Sonic Drive-In to the roster of merchants that have experienced a breach of their payments systems. The Oklahoma City-based fast-food chain confirmed to Digital Transaction News that it has been investigating the incident. On Tuesday, security blog KrebsOnSecurity.com reported the breach affecting an unknown number of Sonic’s point-of-sale systems. …

Consumer-goods manufacturer Shinola has signed up to use the point-of-sale financing service from Affirm Inc. The ATM Industry Association released an Operation Choke Point resource kit for ATM operators. The association said ATM operators continue to receive account-closure notices despite the Department of Justice’s public statement to end the enforcement program. Merchant services provider SignaPay Ltd. released the PayLo …