Consulting firm The Strawhecker Group is out with its 2016 rankings of U.S. merchant acquirers, and they show that 240 acquirers and independent sales organizations processed more than $5 trillion in payment volume. The 10 biggest acquirers accounted for 80% of that volume. Topping the list is JPMorgan Chase & …

• USA Technologies Inc. announced it will work with point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico to make Ingenico contact-EMV hardware available to providers of vending machines and other unattended terminals that use USAT’s network for contactless payments. • In related news, Mastercard Inc. said it is making its Masterpass digital wallet available for purchases …

• In the wake of a rival bid from Euronet Worldwide Inc., Ant Financial Services Group increased its offer for MoneyGram International Inc. from $880 million to $1.2 billion, or from $13.25 per share to $18. Euronet offered $1 billion for MoneyGram after Ant made its original bid. A special MoneyGram …

Bank card merchant acquirers participating in American Express Co.’s OptBlue program signed 1 million small businesses for AmEx acceptance last year, an AmEx executive tells Digital Transactions News. The push came as New York City-based AmEx drives toward chief executive Kenneth I. Chenault’s goal of having AmEx’s merchant base reach …

• In a bid to reach cash-only customers, Amazon.com Inc. launched Amazon Cash, a service that gives users a barcode they can store in their smart phone or print and bring to a participating store to add cash to their Amazon balance. Participating stores include CVS, Speedway, Kum & Go, and …

Consulting firm The Strawhecker Group is out with its 2016 rankings of U.S. merchant acquirers, and they show that 240 acquirers and independent sales organizations processed more than $5 trillion in payment volume. The 10 biggest acquirers accounted for 80% of that volume. Topping the list is JPMorgan Chase & …

• Mastercard Inc. has agreed to acquire NuData Security, whose technology identifies users from their online, mobile-app, and smart-phone interactions. Terms were not disclosed. • Fair Isaac Corp., otherwise known as FICO, said it detected 70% more compromised debit cards at U.S. ATMs and point-of-sale terminals in 2016 than it did …

• Samsung Electronics Co.’s soon-to-be-released Galaxy S8 smart phone will employ facial-recognition technology for mobile payments, including the company’s

• Point-of-sale system maker E la Carte Inc. launched the PrestoPrime EMV Terminal designed for pay-at-the-table use. In addition to chip-card acceptance, the device also works with contactless payments, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and Quick Response code-based services. • Visa Inc. said StubHub users soon will be able …

The long downward spiral of Merchant Customer Exchange LLC reached another milestone Friday with JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s announcement that it is acquiring technology assets from MCX. The money-center bank will use the technology to help launch its fledgling Chase Pay mobile wallet with more merchants. Waltham, Mass.-based MCX is …