Why skepticism is setting in not just about Bitcoin but also about its underlying technology, the blockchain. Like Beanie Babies and baseball cards, Bitcoin has become a collector’s item, curtailing its usefulness as the faster, cheaper consumer payment method it was developed to be. Out of these adoption delays has …
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MCX, Softcard, And the Conundrum of Consortia
The idea of the payments consortium has a checkered history. Nick Holland explains why. We have recently witnessed the likely demise of yet another attempt at cracking the mobile-payments nut. For many, the implosion of Merchant Customer Exchange LLC’s CurrentC wallet venture was no great surprise. To be sure, MCX …
Read More »MCX, Softcard, And the Conundrum of Consortia
The idea of the payments consortium has a checkered history. Nick Holland explains why. We have recently witnessed the likely demise of yet another attempt at cracking the mobile-payments nut. For many, the implosion of Merchant Customer Exchange LLC’s CurrentC wallet venture was no great surprise. To be sure, MCX …
Read More »The Stop-and-Start State of Virtual-Currency Regulation
Regulation of virtual currency at the state level is proving to be a stop-and-start affair. No other state has yet followed New York with its now famous “BitLicense” to regulate virtual currencies under existing law. But in North Carolina, a bill to update the state’s money-transmitter act could become …
Read More »Circle Lands a $60 Million Investment As It Eyes Expansion Into China And Europe
Digital-currency specialist Circle Internet Financial Ltd. is expanding into China following a $60 million investment from a syndicate of investors. This follows a $50 million funding round raised last year by the Boston-based company. Circle enables users to send and receive funds instantly at no charge using blockchain technology. A …
Read More »LaSalle Capital Takes a Stake in Processing.com and other Digital Transactions New briefs
• By the end of August American Express Co. will not hold merchants liable for counterfeit fraud chargebacks for transactions under $25 as part of its updated U.S. fraud policies for EMV chargebacks. By the end of 2016, AmEx plans to limit the number of counterfeit fraud chargebacks to 10 …
Read More »Volatility Works in Bitcoin’s Favor As the Digital Currency’s Value Surges to a Two-Year High
Long-time payments players who like to scoff at Bitcoin as an unproven payments instrument will have to reckon with the robust vote of confidence buyers and sellers of the 7-year-old digital currency have given it over the past few days. Bitcoin’s U.S. dollar value breached the $700 level late Sunday …
Read More »Vantiv Security Pay Program Update and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• The ATM Industry Association teamed up with media and conference firm Reconnaissance International to organize a series of international events under the “ATM & Cash Innovation” moniker. • Vantiv Integrated Payments, a Vantiv Inc. company, began the next phase of its Security Pays program to encourage business owners to …
Read More »More Canadian Banks Enable Apple Pay and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• Merchant processor iPayment Inc. has agreed to promote acceptance of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s Samsung Pay mobile-payments service to merchants and resellers. Merchants can receive a merchant kit that includes window decals and other point-of-purchase items promoting Samsung Pay acceptance. Samsung announced its Samsung Pay reseller program in January. …
Read More »Cabela’s Using Ingenico Encryption and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• The number of merchants accepting chip cards increased to 1.4 million as of April 30, according to new data from MasterCard Inc. That’s a 17% increase from 1.2 million MasterCard reported in March. MasterCard also says 68% of all U.S.-issued MasterCard-branded consumer credit cards have an EMV chip. The …
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