At the time of this writing, a plague has descended on the world, and it’s not likely to have lifted by the time you read this column. Covid-19, a respiratory disease caused by a novel form of the coronavirus, originated in China this winter but has now swept through countries …

With the coronavirus pandemic freezing economic activity in the U.S. and many other countries, Visa Inc. reported in a regulatory filing that U.S. credit card payment volume was down 7% year-over-year for the March 1-28 period while debit payments were down 1%. Cross-border volume on a constant-dollar basis was off 19%. …

The payment card networks plan to postpone until July changes in their interchange schedules that they had planned to take effect in April, Digital Transactions News has learned. The delays come as many merchants, especially restaurants, hotels, and local retailers have closed or greatly reduced their operations as part of governmental attempts …

ATM and retail-checkout equipment manufacturer Diebold Nixdorf Inc. withdrew its full-year financial guidance, saying that in some locations it “is seeing instances of product installation disruptions from coronavirus-related logistics challenges, which impacts the company’s ability to forecast product revenue.” The company also postponed its planned May 21 Investor Day event.PAR Technology Corp., …

A national survey of 850 small businesses found 69% have seen a “large drop” in demand because of the coronavirus pandemic, while 60% say they believe demand will drop further. The survey was conducted by America’s Small Business Development Centers and Thryv Inc., a software vendor specializing in small businesses.The U.S. Faster Payments …

Merchant processor and business-software provider Square Inc. says some of its sellers have seen declines of 45% in payment volume in recent days, and private-label and cobranded card issuer Alliance Data Systems Corp. says business at its client merchants is softening.  Both companies held conference calls with analysts after the …

Cash is fighting an uphill battle to remain a payment option during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Over the past week, a number of toll-highway and bridge authorities have ceased accepting cash to limit the spread of the highly infectious disease. According to local press reports, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Illinois …

With students not in school, the closure of restaurants and bars, and work-from-home edicts in place, consumer spending is shifting. Witness that in the week of March 9-15, the payment volume made with dipped EMV cards fell 5.17% from the week prior and mag-stripe volume fell 13.07%, according to the …

New findings from a software and business-services provider that examined what happened at thousands of small businesses last week show the damage the coronavirus, or Covid-19, is inflicting on merchants. San Francisco-based Oto Analytics Inc., which does business as Womply, looked at payment card data from its merchant-acquiring partners, data …

Payments providers are rallying support for small businesses, especially restaurants and hospitality merchants, contending with the effects of the coronavirus and urgent calls for social distancing. Just Tuesday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered all casinos and other nonessential businesses, such as personal health and beauty businesses, to close for 30 days.  …