Fueled by such scams as business email compromise, phishing frauds are staging a dramatic comeback. The total number of attacks reached 266,387 in the third quarter, according to the latest report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a security-industry organization that tracks the crime. That’s the highest level of phishing activity …

Owners of small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) generally have a negative outlook on the payments industry, and for good reason. The merchant-services world, in particular, has an ugly track record, including lackluster customer support, not to mention misleading sales practices that lead to costly processing rates, hidden fees, and burdensome …

Days after Nxgen and Payscape announced they were merging with a third payments provider, BluePay Canada, the new entity said it has agreed to combine with a fourth company, Payroc LLC, and adopt the Payroc name. James Oberman, Payroc’s chief executive, will serve as CEO of the merged entity.Discover Financial Services said it now …

Discover Financial Services reported its Payment Services unit, which includes activity on the Pulse electronic funds transfer network, on Diners Club cards, and with network partners, recorded $62.6 billion in volume in the third quarter, up 7% year-over-year. Volume on Pulse alone increased 5% to $47.5 billion. With Discover network proprietary …

Payments typically flow from consumer to merchant, but in the case of merchandise returns, they flow the other way, and it turns out returns are an almost universal experience these days. That’s putting pressure on merchants to streamline the returns process and find ways to deal with consumer sensitivity about …

The Federal Reserve, which is taking industry comments on its upcoming FedNow real-time payments network until Nov. 7, said common questions so far involve pricing and the scope of the service. The first question can’t be answered yet, and the second touches on services that will be designed by financial institutions building on top …

A survey by processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) found that 54 countries now have active real-time payment programs, up from 40 in 2018 and nearly four times as many as 2014.Cross River Bank, which specializes in services for technology companies, has applied to link to The Clearing House Payments Co.’s Real Time …

Cyber criminals took no time off in the first six months of 2019 as human-initiated attacks against online sites grew by 13% from the same period a year ago, finds the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Cybercrime Report released Tuesday. Bots, too, evolved to target new account creations. Bot attacks targeting new …

Fiserv Inc. said its First Data unit, together with Visa Inc. and Samsung Electronics, is demonstrating a new software-based point-of-sale technology that allows an everyday mobile device to accept contactless payments from contactless cards or phones or wearables equipped with near-field communication. A pilot of the technology is set for Poland …

From cities to stadiums to quick-service restaurants, more and more places are grappling with the idea of going 100% cashless. According to the Pew Research Center, almost a third of Americans have stopped using cash for their typical weekly spending. Even Monopoly, many children’s first interaction with money and the …