Merchant cash advances can be a God-send for merchants unable to secure traditional bank funding and agents looking to supplement their income. But that boon often comes at a painful premium. The merchant cash advance (MCA) is a common form of alternative lending offered by private lenders. Many independent sales …

  New rules coming from the CFPB and other regulators will likely lead to exits and consolidation among players, says Ben Jackson. It’s February, and by the end of the first quarter the rules of the prepaid game likely will change. Looming regulations at both the federal and state level …

Humor me. Take a $20 bill out of your wallet, hand it to me, thank you very much, and then walk into a store and use the same twenty to pay for merchandise. Can you do this? Yes, you can. It is simpler than you think, and perfectly legal! This …

New rules coming from the CFPB and other regulators will likely lead to exits and consolidation among players, says Ben Jackson. Itäó»s February, and by the end of the first quarter the rules of the prepaid game likely will change. Looming regulations at both the federal and state level likely …

Humor me. Take a $20 bill out of your wallet, hand it to me, thank you very much, and then walk into a store and use the same twenty to pay for merchandise. Can you do this? Yes, you can. It is simpler than you think, and perfectly legal! This …

Consumers seem to be very forgiving of retailers who experience data breaches, according to findings from a recent survey for the Merchant Acquirers’ Committee, a trade group of payment processors. Most customers resume shopping—and using a payment card—at a breached retailer within a few months, and among those that don’t …

Consumers using mobile-banking sites or apps make only sporadic use of their ability to pay bills, send money to other individuals, or load a prepaid card, finds new research from Javelin LLC, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based payments-research firm. In the “2015 Mobile Banking, Smartphone, and Tablet Forecast” released Tuesday, Javelin found …

  ISOs trying to figure out what kind of gear to sell small businesses are discovering the first step toward wisdom involves educating their merchants. Until a couple of years ago, marketing messages for new point-of-sale equipment did not have to focus much on the technology, other than to say …

More states are mulling the sale of lottery tickets through fuel pumps. Is this niche market a good bet for new payment-card volume? A mere handful of the 43 states with state-sponsored lotteries permit game sales from non-traditional venues such as fuel pumps. Usually, a person looking for a little …

How do you combine mobile check deposit with prepaid cards to offer immediate funds to customers without bank accounts? Ingo Money says its mobile app is the answer. Mobile deposit capture technology has made it easier than ever for consumers with bank accounts to deposit a check. Simply open the …