• MoneyGram Inc. has entered into a confidentiality agreement with rival Euronet Worldwide Inc. to further consider Euronet’s unsolicited offer to acquire MoneyGram, which had previously entered into an agreement to be acquired by Ant Financial Services Group. • Merchant processor Total Merchant Services announced an expanded collection of application …

Euronet Worldwide Inc., owner of the Ria money-transfer service, early Tuesday announced a $1 billion bid to acquire Dallas-based MoneyGram International Inc. Euronet’s unexpected bid casts a cloud of uncertainty over the $880 million buyout offer China-based Ant Financial Services Group submitted for MoneyGram in January. Leawood, Kan.-based Euronet called …

• Private-equity fund Vista Equity Partners said it would buy Canadian payments and financial software provider DH Corp. (D+H) for C$4.8 billion ($3.6 billion) in cash and merge it with one of its portfolio companies, United Kingdom-based Misys, a software provider for retail and corporate banking. • Merchant processor Payment Data Systems Inc. said …

Just as they once issued proprietary plastic, retailers are introducing their own mobile wallets. But just how much consumer appeal do these apps have, and will they work equally well for all merchants? In the business of mobile payments, everyone is familiar with the trio of so-called Pays—Android Pay, Apple …

Acquiring processors haven’t been thought of historically as platform businesses. But the industry is changing, and processors that do it right can achieve enviable valuations. The Holy Grail for payments companies is to enjoy network effects and critical mass. Global networks such as MasterCard and Visa have both in spades. …

In the United States, prepaid money is the most rapidly growing payment instrument. It is a lifesaver to the unbanked and the underbanked. It is the payment vehicle used in an increasing number of creative arrangements. But it is also the platform of choice for many fraudsters, and it amounts …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Not all private-label charge and prepaid card programs are equally successful, and so neither will be the proprietary mobile wallets recently launched by merchants. Factors that are likely to lead to a successful app include the strength of the retailer’s brand, its commitment to either convenience …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews The lingering impact of some retailers’ slow conversion to EMV chip card acceptance continued to plague prepaid card services provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. in the fourth quarter. Blackhawk reported late Wednesday that revenues fell short of its expectations in part because of a “continued EMV headwind” …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews PayPal Holdings Inc., which hasn’t been shy about laying out big money to enter new businesses, said on Tuesday it will shell out $233 million to buy TIO Networks Corp., a cloud-based processor that will deepen PayPal’s penetration of the bill-payment market. The acquisition is expected …

• KeyBank and First Data Corp. announced an agreement under which the bank will offer First Data products and services, including the Clover line of mobile point-of-sale technology, to its merchant clients across the country. • Financial-institution processor Fiserv Inc. said fourth-quarter adjusted revenue in its payments segment grew 9% year …