Litigation between CardFree Inc. and Scvngr Inc., better known as LevelUp, has taken a nasty turn in recent weeks, with LevelUp accusing CardFree of high-pressure tactics outside the courtroom and CardFree charging LevelUp with more instances of fraudulent access to its mobile order-ahead-and-pay system. In its June 21 answer to …

Overall, the forecast is strong for open-loop prepaid cards—loads are expected to reach $353.6 billion by 2020—but not every segment will partake in the growth. That’s the assessment in a new report from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Open-loop cards, which can be used at most merchants and carry a major …

Worldpay has asked for second extension, this time to Aug. 11 after a first one to Aug. 8, of a British regulatory deadline as Worldpay and Vantiv Inc. executives put the finishing touches on Vantiv’s proposed $9.9 billion buyout offer for the London-based merchant acquirer. Reuters reported that the companies expect to announce a final …

First Data Corp. executives Monday highlighted rapid growth in the processor’s Clover Network line of tablet-based point-of-sale devices, and also said attrition has come down significantly among small merchants. Not so hot are First Data’s joint merchant-acquiring ventures with big banks, but the company insists their revenue softness is only …

Chinese tourism abroad has already taken off, and it’s expected to grow ever larger in coming years, lifting sales for merchants in the United States and other parts of the world. The latest company to set itself up to cash in on the trend is Marriott International Inc., which on …

Merchant processor Vantiv Inc. on Monday launched triPOS Cloud, a cloud-based application programming interface intended for independent software vendors and merchants looking to integrate payments with point-of-sale systems. As an API, triPOS Cloud enables developers to integrate payments functions with a few pieces of code. The service incorporates encryption and tokenization, …

Merchant acquirer Square Inc. increased its presence among consumers in the second quarter with the June rollout of its physical Square Cash Card, a Visa debit card, and the launch of a test in which Square provides loans to customers of its merchants. Both developments occurred as Square’s gross payment …

Global Payments Inc. said Thursday that it has a deal to buy two major divisions of Active Network LLC, a growing event-management software provider and payment processor, for $1.2 billion from a private-equity firm. The merchant acquirer also reported its second-quarter financials, which include a nearly 8% year-over-year increase in …

Ingenico Group said retailer City Furniture is using Ingenico mobile point-of-sale readers and software services as part of its new POS system used in its 27 stores. Payment card manufacturer CPI Card Group Inc. reported second-quarter sales of $65.8 million, down 10.7% from the same period last year. Its net loss was $2.2 …

Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay service continues to roll out in foreign countries, so much so that 75% of its transaction volume is coming from abroad, according to Apple’s chief financial officer. Apple Pay, which uses near-field communication technology for contactless payments with the iPhone and Apple Watch wearable device, was …