The global retail-payment networks Mastercard and Visa are on a tear, acquiring and investing in adjacent payment-opportunity space in networks that can leverage and reinforce their existing franchises.  Their traditional payment schemes are dominant worldwide and near indestructible. While for the foreseeable future they could grow on autopilot, to their …

With its core ride-hailing business ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic, Uber Technologies Inc. has been looking to move further into adjacent transportation markets, including mass-transit ticketing and payments. This week, the company said it had bought Routematch Software, a 20-year-old, Atlanta-based developer of systems that manage trip booking and ticketing, …

Thanks to federal programs to deliver stimulus funds to businesses and individuals, the second-quarter slowdown automated clearing house governing body Nacha expected due to Covid-19 didn’t happen. In fact, the massive ACH network saw year-over-year growth in the April-through-June quarter of 7.9%, Nacha reported late Wednesday. The second quarter’s growth …

Payment card usage in the U.S. might be taking a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, but not the Zelle person-to-person payments service among Bank of America Corp.’s customer base. Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA reported Thursday that it had 11.3 million active Zelle users, including small businesses, in the second quarter, up 41% …

Given the challenging set of circumstances we are all currently facing, time is of the essence. That is why it is absolutely imperative that payments technology companies equip both Sales Partners and their merchants with the solutions, programs, and support they need to compete right now. At North American Bancard, …

With the Covid-19 pandemic forcing merchants to beef up or add an e-commerce channel to service customers disinclined to enter a physical store, processors that have partnered with or acquired independent software vendors (ISVs) specializing in the online sales channel are well-positioned for growth, according to The Strawhecker Group. Since …

With consumer and merchant preferences shifting towards contactless payment methods in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, payments activated by Quick Response codes are gaining more attention. That’s because they are a low-cost way for merchants without NFC (near-field communication)-based applications, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, to add …

Consumers have been spending considerably less in most stores over the past four months, but that hasn’t prevented a shortage of coins from developing. But in one sign of a nascent revival of cash usage, the number ATM cash withdrawals by credit union members has finally broken a 15-week streak …

New data from a point-of-sale services provider show just how much of a boost the Covid-19 pandemic has given to contactless payments. New York City-based CardFlight Inc., a technology company serving more than 60,000 small businesses through its SwipeSimple service, says in its latest weekly report on payment trends since …

When the big card networks this spring postponed until April 2021 the fraud-liability deadline for EMV chip cards at gas pumps, the retail fuel industry heaved a huge sigh of relief. But now estimates are emerging that indicate even relatively small gas-station operators that don’t enable their pumps for EMV …