Acquiring processors haven’t been thought of historically as platform businesses. But the industry is changing, and processors that do it right can achieve enviable valuations. The Holy Grail for payments companies is to enjoy network effects and critical mass. Global networks such as MasterCard and Visa have both in spades. …

Founded in 1990 as the national trade group of independent sales organizations, the Electronic Transactions Association is taking on a decidedly technology-oriented hue as the payments industry rapidly evolves. The ETA announced last week that an Apple Inc. executive was elected to a two-year term on its board of directors, …

After an active 2015 in which such prominent payments-industry firms as processor First Data Corp. and merchant acquirer Square Inc. completed initial public offerings of stock, 2016 saw little IPO activity by payment firms. But 2017 could be a different story, according to an analyst. The most notable new U.S. …

Consumers are no longer enamored of single-purchase models. By adopting recurring-transaction models, companies can begin to offer a new and improved user experience. The subscription economy, a term coined by Zuora Inc., is growing fast, and businesses are taking note. According to a recent report from Zuora, a cloud-based provider …

• The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued final approval of a $37.5 million settlement in a class-action case, Reyes v. Zions First National Bank, attorneys for the class announced. In the case, plaintiffs alleged Zions Bank and a former payment-processing subsidiary knowingly handled payments for fraudulent …

• 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 …

• Merchant acquirer Worldpay brought its Worldpay Total integrated payments platform to the U.S.; Worldpay introduced the platform in the United Kingdom in November 2014 and extended it to European e-commerce merchants earlier this year. • U.S. Bancorp, owner of merchant acquirer Elavon, posted $412 million in merchant-processing revenues in …

• Mobile e-commerce grew 60% last year to reach $120 billion, with 70% of that total coming through browsers (50%) and apps (20%) accessed via smart phones, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. • Routine usage of mobile devices to make payments remains flat with last …

There have been some successes, but loyalty programs tied into mobile-payment systems are still few and far between. What will it take to strengthen the relationship? When you think of loyalty programs seamlessly integrated with mobile payments, only two examples loom large in the minds of the public and many …

Worldpay, WePay, and Stripe are among those viewed as attractive targets as the industry consolidates. Apparently, investors are not ready to put away their checkbooks when it comes to payments companies. Despite potential macro uncertainty stemming from the U.S. presidential election and the specter of the United Kingdom’s departure from …