As the plague of ransomware continues to roil digital payments and other industries, it turns out state and local governments are proving to be particularly vulnerable. In fact, ransomware attacks on school systems, police departments, city administrative offices, and other governmental agencies are rising fast. Last year, state and local …

Machine learning is a popular fraud-fighting technology, but models have a tendency to become less effective over time as criminals adjust their tactics. On Tuesday, ACI Worldwide Inc. said it’s taking a crack at that problem with a service that the company says can adjust automatically to changing fraud patterns. …

U.S. payment companies finally appear to be gaining some traction in China, but how—and when—that foothold will develop is still unknown. China, as the world’s second-largest economy, has long been an attractive market for U.S. payments companies. It’s only in recent years—starting in 2005 and accelerating in the past few—that …

As small businesses increasingly look for help in adopting digital payments, PFs are generating more and more payment volume—and more revenue. When payment-facilitator megaplayers, like Square Inc. and Stripe Inc., first entered the scene more than a decade ago, many within the payments industry viewed the model as too risky. …

The controversial Libra cryptocurrency project gained a new member Friday with Shopify Inc.’s announcement it will join the Libra Association, the governing body for the fledgling venture. Shopify’s decision comes in the face of a string of eight high-profile defections from the association since October, including decisions by Mastercard Inc., …

MoneyGram International Inc. is proving adept at attracting diverse investors. Cash-management provider The Brink’s Co. announced Thursday that it has invested $9 million in MoneyGram stock for a 4.95% stake in the company. The Brink’s investment comes in the wake of the $50 million Ripple Labs Inc., developer of the …

Researchers and risk-control firms have been monitoring the increase in e-commerce fraud for years, and it’s hit home for a group of merchants surveyed by American Express Co. A newly released AmEx survey that included 400 business leaders says they estimate 27% of their firms’ annual online sales are fraudulent …

Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., merchant processor Stripe Inc. and online marketplace eBay Inc. said Friday afternoon they will not join the Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency project. The defections came a week after PayPal Holdings Inc. became the first of the Libra Association’s 28 tentative members to withdraw in the face of …

Ever more numerous digital payments and better management tools are helping transform the venerable stored-credential transaction. As ubiquitous as card-on-file transactions have been, the expectation is that this payment method is poised to grow in volume and importance in coming years, especially as more commerce moves online and consumer comfort …

Are the big card networks no longer content to be card networks? You might be excused for thinking so if you looked at the buying binge Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. have embarked over the past year or so—with some participation from American Express Co., as well. Much of this …