Until recently, Merchant Acquiring and Card Issuing processes were at different ends of the spectrum. However, ingenuity, competitive pricing for merchant services, and an opportunity to better serve the growing number of new businesses are resulting in a confluence of acquiring and issuing in the payments industry.  Acquirers are now …

There’s much more to PayPal Holdings Inc. than Venmo, but that’s where the payments industry’s spotlight has shone in recent months. So on Wednesday, PayPal for the first time revealed how many active users its peer-to-peer transfer service has: 40 million plus. Venmo users rang up $21 billion in volume …

Blockchain startup Bleumi Inc. announced Tuesday it has launched two services, Bleumi Pay and Bleumi Invoice, for cross-border remittances. Bleumi Pay, a gateway that works with so-called stablecoins to avoid the price volatility afflicting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The gateway will allow businesses and merchants to receive payments via Web site, …

Department-store chain J.C. Penney Co. Inc. confirmed over the weekend that it no longer accepts Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payment service. The move appears to involve a Visa Inc. contactless rule that took effect this month that may have broader implications for U.S. retailers. The confirmation came in a tweet …

Not all security breaches are designed to steal data. Instead, an increasing number these days are programmed to hold data hostage. And the sums demanded by the malefactors behind so-called ransomware attacks are rising fast. The average ransom in the first quarter came to $12,762, up 89% just from the …

In a sign that at least some U.S. wireless carriers haven’t given up on their ambitions in mobile payments, T-Mobile US Inc. on Thursday launched its T-Mobile Money service nationwide. But the service, which began as a pilot in November, goes beyond payments offerings to include some traditional banking services …

Coffee, doughnut, and breakfast sandwich aficionados can now pay with credit and debit cards and even cash and still earn points in Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc.’s DD Perks loyalty program at more than 1,000 test stores, Dunkin’ announced this week. DD Perks is one of the nation’s largest rewards programs, …

In advance of a key European regulation taking effect late this summer, San Francisco-based payments provider Stripe Inc. has acquired Touchtech Payments, a developer of authentication software. Terms of the deal, announced Wednesday, were not disclosed. Founded in 2014, Dublin-based Touchtech specializes in code that establishes customer identities for financial …

A federal judge has banned payments provider Priority Payout Corp. and its owner Thomas Wells from ever directly or indirectly working in the payment-processing industry following a violation of a 2009 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. Announced last week, the ban, ordered by U.S. District Court Judge James C. …

CardFlight Inc. is adding point-of-sale terminals to its roster of SwipeSimple-compatible products with the launch Tuesday of SwipeSimple Terminal. This puts the SwipeSimple POS software on more devices in addition to tablets, personal computers, and mobile devices. More than 50,000 merchants currently use SwipeSimple, CardFlight says. SwipeSimple Terminal initially is …