The number of card-accepting merchant locations around the world reached a record high of 88 million in 2021, up 2% over 2020 as measures to fight the pandemic helped stoke consumer usage of payment cards rather than alternatives like cash, according to research released Monday by London-based research firm RBR. …

Airwallex, an Australia-based fintech, has partnered with Plaid Inc. to enable merchants in the United States to streamline transactions initiated through the automated clearing house. Airwallex merchants can leverage Plaid’s open-banking technology to authorize adding funds to their Airwallex wallet from an external bank account or to accept payments from …

A new report from J.D. Power finds that small-business owners, struggling to offset inflation’s impact and supply-chain issues, continue to rely on their credit cards. American Express Co. cards for small businesses scored highest in the 2022 U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power. This is the …

The big Internet services provider GoDaddy Inc. said on Tuesday it is using its Manage WooCommerce Stores technology to help sellers open and manage a store on the WordPress online platform. The move, which could bring more small sellers into the e-commerce fold, is aimed at untangling the complexity GoDaddy …

Vending and unattended payments specialist Cantaloupe Inc. has closed on its $41 million acquisition of Three Square Market, known as 32M, and intends to use it as a springboard for expansion and improved profit margins. Three Square Market, with headquarters in River Falls, Wis., will generate an estimated $19 million …

To counter the rising tide of first-party misuse chargebacks, also known as “friendly fraud,” Chargeback Gurus has introduced ARI, a predictive-analytics engine the company says can identify transactions likely to be disputed by the cardholder, even though the transaction is legitimate. ARI uses artificial intelligence to analyze data gathered from …

Thales, a French company known in the payments industry for its digital-identity technology, on Thursday introduced a product that it says will allow visually impaired shoppers to verify the details of a card transaction while standing at the point of sale. The Voice Payment Card, which Thales announced has been …

The Fifth Circuit’s ruling that the way the agency is funded is unconstitutional opens the door to rewrite its remit and take politics out of its decisions. Paraphrasing Leon Trotsky, payment systems, processors, fintechs, and financial-services firms may not be interested in the CFPB, but the CFPB is interested in …

As the market for real-time payments continues to develop in the United States—and as the Federal Reserve prepares for a commercial launch of its own real-time network next year—the race is on to capture market share. There are a number of contenders, but one clear frontrunner is The Clearing House …

Chargebacks are a problem area for most merchants and airlines are no more immune. So Amadeus, a global distribution company for the travel industry, is launching its Amadeus Chargeback Management program. Announced Wednesday, the new service will provide airlines with an automated and outsourced chargeback-management program. It comes as airlines …