By Peter Lucas @DTPaymentNews Sweden-based e-commerce payments provider Klarna continues to expand its footprint in the United States by doubling its user base and adding new features to enhance the user experience. More than 2 million U.S. consumers now use Klarna’s streamlined checkout service, generating hundreds of millions of dollars …

By Peter Lucas @DTPaymentNews By the numbers, at least, merchants appear to be paving the way for mobile and contactless payments to become mainstream in the United States. The installed base of terminals ready for near-field communication in the U.S. and Canada is projected to reach 9.2 million by year’s …

• The Federal Reserve posted a notice that a payment network violates the debit card transaction-routing requirements in its rule implementing the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment if the network requires a merchant to allow a cardholder to choose an application that routes to only one network during an EMV debit card purchase. …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews The faster-payments movement in the United States took a key step forward late in September with the automated clearing house network’s adoption of same-day clearing, and now numbers are available for the first full month of faster ACH processing. A total of $4.98 billion on 3.8 …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews Countless analysts have tried to diagnose what ails the lackluster U.S. mobile-wallet market, but new observations from securities rating agency Fitch Ratings Inc. succinctly identify three primary causes: a lack of compelling value propositions, an overcrowded market, and cyber-risk aversion on the part of consumers. “The vast …

• Rite Aid Corp. announced that American Express Co. cardholders now can use their Membership Rewards points for purchases at its drugstores. They also can use their Plenti points earned using the AmEx-backed coalition rewards service • Growth in consumer revolving credit cooled off to a 5.2% seasonally adjusted annualized rate in …

Even though payments processors have been working with application developers for years, independent software vendors (ISVs) still represent a major opportunity for acquirers and processors. It remains the case that 49% of ISVs do not integrate payments functionality into their systems, according to new research from First Annapolis Consulting, an …

  The traditional box office needed a serious refresh when it came to funneling large crowds through the gates quickly and efficiently. The same outdated model was problematic for all venues including music festivals, concert halls, museums and sporting events. Since many venues employ volunteers or part-time workers, the challenge …

EMV after effects dominate our list of headaches this year. Still, from regulation to faster payments to interchange uncertainty, there are plenty of other issues to contend with. In the 10 years we have compiled our annual list of pressing issues facing the payments industry, no single theme has dominated …

Tired of PCI and EMV hassles? Consider solutions that shrink PCI scope and simplify EMV certification, says Andrey Tikhonov. One year after the EMV liability shift in the U.S., many merchants are still debating whether to update their payment systems as they learn about EMV’s value and the consequences of …