Bitcoin entered 2020 on a high note but remains a volatile cryptocurrency, both in value and in transaction cost. That volatility can reward savvy users but continues to hinder the leading cryptocoin’s usefulness as a payment method. The coin exited 2019 with a value exceeding $7,000, roughly double what it …

It’s no secret that electronic payment methods have systematically eaten away at check volume in the United States, but now new data from the Federal Reserve shows just how far that trend has gone.  A total of 16 billion checks were written in 2018 for a total value of $26.2 …

In a move that could have wide-ranging implications for a variety of payments, the Federal Reserve on Monday announced it will support a third settlement window each day for same-day automated clearing house transactions. The later settlement time, which ACH rule-making authority Nacha and a number of banks have long …

Chip-based transactions at the point of sale totaled more than non-chip payments for the first time in 2018, just three years after the United States began in earnest to convert payment cards and point-of-sale devices to the EMV chip standard, according to the latest Federal Reserve Payments Study, released Thursday.  …

PayPal Holdings Inc. officially opened the door to a vast market for payments on Thursday with the closing of its deal for 70% of the equity in China’s Guofubao Information Technology Co. Ltd., better known as Gopay. The Peoples Bank of China had already okayed the deal, for which terms were …

As 2019 draws to a close, the year’s super mergers in the payments-processing business may be creating super opportunities for startup service providers. That, at any rate, has been the experience so far of acquiring-industry veteran Trent Voigt and his new company, Paynetwork LLC, which does business as Paynetworx. The …

PayPal Holdings Inc.’s latest financial-institution collaboration emerged Monday with news that institutional clients of Citigroup Inc. will be able to make payments directly into PayPal digital wallets globally starting in the first quarter. The arrangement opens up for PayPal Citi’s WorldLink cross-border payments network, which will be used to connect …

PayPal Holdings Inc. on Wednesday sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleging the regulatory agency’s 8-month-old prepaid rule represents a “category error” and a violation of the First Amendment, and should be vacated by the court. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, charges …

Mastercard Inc. on Wednesday announced it has begun its first real-world pilots for a new digital-identity system the company says has the potential to dramatically simplify payments and other interactions between consumers and government and commercial entities. Two separate pilots for the new service, which relies on mobile devices, are …

Facebook Inc.’s Libra cryptocurrency may be struggling with regulators globally, but that doesn’t mean blockchain processors aren’t moving forward with other stablecoins. Atlanta-based BitPay Inc. on Tuesday introduced payment acceptance and settlement services in a trio of stablecoins whose value is tied to the U.S. dollar: Circle Internet Financial Ltd.’s …