Commercial Bank of California’s announcement Tuesday that Group ISO Inc. joined its wholesale independent sales organization program signals greater ambitions for the Irvine, Calif.-based bank. Group ISO will use CBC’s BIN sponsorship, a term for bank identification numbers, which is required for acquirers to send and receive transactions from card …

Facebook Inc. is expected to release details this week, perhaps as early as Tuesday, on its Libra cryptocurrency initiative, but for now what’s known about the project has at least some experts shaking their heads. “Why a cryptocurrency, and why Facebook?” asks Tim Sloane, who follows digital currencies as vice …

At least four payments companies are set to participate in a consortium formed by Facebook Inc. to launch a cryptocurrency next year aimed at commerce rather than exchange trading, according to a report Friday in The Wall Street Journal. Facebook is expected to officially announce the initiative next week. The …

Groupon announced it will provide GasBuddy, a fuel-price reporting service, with food and drink offers from local merchants via card linking. Consumers will be able to load offers directly to an eligible payment card after completing an opt-in enrollment in the GasBuddy app. POSaBIT, a fintech supplier to the legal …

A standards body controlled by the major card networks released on Friday a long-awaited standard aimed at simplifying and securing consumer checkouts on the Web and in apps. By mid-morning, American Express Co., Discover Financial Services, and Mastercard Inc. had announced they intend to implement the spec later this year. …

The ducks are lining up for U.S. contactless payments with dual-interface cards, but they’re not all in a row yet. Outdated POS terminals and certification issues still stand in the way. Forget the swipe, and even the dip. Tapping plastic cards is the wave of the future, in the eyes …

Six big networks control EMVCo, which in turn controls the global EMV standards. But merchants have ways to wield some influence. Within the fraternity of commerce, merchants have at times taken issue with directives set out by payments organizations. The most common differences usually center on pricing, but disputes about …

For years now, the payments business has predicted a mass uptake of mobile wallets, and for years the pundits have been disappointed. Activity via services like Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay has been notably non-overwhelming, despite backing from these tech giants. Now, another question mark has appeared for …

Cardtronics plc said its Allpoint ATM network and Visa Inc. reached an agreement to waive ATM fees for travelers visiting the United States from Southeast Asia who have a Visa travel prepaid card or debit card from certain financial institutions. Allpoint counts more than 40,000 U.S. ATMs. Lightspeed POS Inc., …

Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc. said malware was discovered and removed from its point-of-sale system at some Checkers and Rally’s locations. Checkers said 15% of its nearly 900 locations were affected. The timing of the malware exposure varies, with one Los Angeles location infected from Dec. 17, 2015 to March 26, …