Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

As consumers take on increasing amounts of credit card debt, their satisfaction with credit card rewards and loyalty programs is eroding. That’s according to a report released Thursday by J.D. Power. The decline in satisfaction is being driven by consumers’ perception of the rewards earned per dollar spent, especially among …

TSG, a payments advisory firm, released a service to help merchant acquirers and software vendors optimize pricing for merchants. Dubbed the Embedded Pricing Tool, it can help acquirers and software vendors get pricing right without over- or under-pricing merchants. Pricing data comes from the TSG database in its Acquiring Industry …

Block Inc., corporate parent of Square and Cash App, posted $5.5 billion in second-quarter revenue, a 25% jump from $4.4 billion in the same quarter a year ago, as the payments provider pushes on with its move to add larger merchants. The midmarket segment now accounts for 40% of its …

Shift4 Payments Inc. said early Thursday it will pay restaurants a dollar for every online order they receive across the first three months that they use the company’s SkyTab POS system. Shift4 contends it is making the move in response to what it calls junk fees charged by other payment …

The latest battle in the war over the proposed Credit Card Competition Act has focused on the question whether the legislation would cut rewards and other benefits for cardholders. Citing research from the consulting firm CMSPI, the Merchants Payments Coalition, a lobbying group for sellers, argues that passage of the …

With proposals aimed at controlling merchants’ costs for accepting credit cards having re-emerged in Congress, research has been emerging on both sides of the issue this summer as advocates for sellers and card issuers compete to influence any eventual legislation. The latest thrust appeared Monday with a research report arguing …

Services such as buy now, pay later loans and personal financial management will help drive the global volume of digital-wallet transactions to $16 trillion in 2028, up 77% from $9 trillion this year, according to a report from Juniper Research. Katapult Holdings Inc. said more than 20 merchants are now available on …

Spotify, the digital-music service, has notified long-time customers it will no longer support payments from Apple Inc.’s App Store for premium subscriptions. Those customers who use the Apple service will be moved to Spotify’s free service and must transition to an alternative, such as PayPal or a credit card, for …

Travel-technology provider Sabre Corp. announced it has acquired Techsembly, a gift card and e-commerce platform for hotels. The U.S. Payments Forum published a white paper outlining the impact of the Federal Reserve’s clarification that debit card issuers must enable a choice of two unaffiliated networks for all transactions, including card-not-present payments. The clarification took effect …

IHG Hotels & Resorts, with close to 4,000 properties, will use FreedomPay Inc.’s payment technology, the payments provider said. Meanwhile, Helcim launched its Helcim Fee Saver surcharge program. Philadelphia-based FreedomPay says its FreedomPay Commerce Platform will provide the payments functionality for multiple IHG brands, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton, …

Toast Inc., provider of popular payment and business-management systems for restaurants, is testing a 99-cent fee for online orders of $10 and above that the company could roll out nationwide next month. The test is generating criticism from restaurateurs on social media and debate in the merchant-acquiring industry about pricing …

Helcim Inc., a Calgary, Alberta-based payments provider, launched its Helcim Smart Terminal, which it says carries no contract or monthly fees. The device, which uses the Android operating system, is priced at $349 (C$429) and will be available this summer. Among its technical capabilities is a built-in printer, a large …

The leveling off of e-commerce activity continues as online prices, as measured by the Adobe Digital Price Index, fell 2.3% in May from a year ago. This is the ninth consecutive year-over-year decrease in online prices, Adobe Inc. says. Of the 18 categories tracked by Adobe, prices fell in 11 …

Some 80% of U.S. consumers say they have used a peer-to-peer payment service at least once, while two-thirds report having used a mobile wallet in the past year, according to the 2023 State of Payments report from card-issuing platform Marqeta Inc. The study surveyed 4,091 consumers in February, including 2,013 in the …

Sparing merchants card-acceptance fees is the fuel that has propelled alternative payments options, such as account-to-account transactions. One startup benefitting from this trend is London-based Sway Money Ltd., which enables merchants to accept account-to-account payments using a QR code and an off-the-shelf mobile device. Sway, which was incorporated in December …

Payment orchestration has entered a new phase, evolving from a gateway or regional solution to include sophisticated global capabilities and services. This unlocks a set of powerful capabilities that allow businesses to customize on a global scale, turning on and off services by region, product, and sales channel, increasing authorization …

Small businesses in Canada will reap lower interchange rates in that country, the Department of Finance Canada announced Thursday. The deal suggests a similar reduction is possible in the United States, the Merchant Payments Coalition quickly responded. Both Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. agreed to lower the domestic consumer credit …

Fifth Third Bancorp said it has closed on its acquisition of Big Data LLC, a technology platform for health-care payments. Terms were not disclosed Mark Barnett, president of Mastercard Inc. for Europe, said card interchange “represents incredibly good value” with respect to “sharing the costs and benefits of the payment system.” The remarks …

Merchants’ price for accepting credit cards has remained steady for years, according to data released Monday by the Electronic Payments Coalition, an advocacy group representing the payment card industry. The EPC’s release comes as widespread and longstanding merchant complaints about the cost of card acceptance have sparked efforts by federal …

Amazon.com Inc. has beefed up the rewards for its Visa-branded cards issued by Chase, in response to cardholder’s desire for travel-related perks and the ability to earn more rewards for day-to-day expenses, such as commuting. Additionally, Amazon is allowing cardholders to redeem rewards daily and has rebranded its cards. Prime …