Tuesday , April 16, 2024

Kevin Woodward

Kevin's role at Digital Transactions is to write news and features stories for publication on the Web site and in the magazine. He also oversees the digital editorial aspect of the site and the Digital Transactions News daily newsletter.

Aurora Releases the Arise Platform; FastSpring Adds Apple Pay and Pix

Evolving merchant expectations are a primary factor in Aurora Payments’ newly released Arise Payment Platform, which is intended to match sellers’ needs, says Brian Goudie, Aurora chief executive. Announced Tuesday, the Arise platform includes same-day onboarding capability, surcharging, cash discounting, and dual- pricing options, Aurora says. It also offers acceptance …

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Henry Helgeson’s Return as a Payments Chief Executive Signals Bigger BlueSnap Ambitions

As a payments executive, he started an independent sales organization in 1998 that 19 years later would be acquired by Total System Services Inc. for $1.05 billion in cash. Now, more than four years since Henry Helgeson held a position at a payments company—other than as a board director or …

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Consumer Fraud Recovery Costs Rocket 70% in One Year

Rising costs aren’t just happening in grocery stores. They have caught up to fraud-recovery costs when consumers work to untangle the mess caused by identity theft and scams. The average out-of-pocket expense for a consumer in that situation ballooned 70% from $119 in 2022 to $202 in 2023, according to …

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Eye on Check Fraud: 61% Still Write Checks, But Face Fraud; DataVisor Picks Mitek Check Fraud Tool

Despite a severe drop-off in check use, 61% of consumers continue to write paper checks and continue to face the threat of check fraud, says Abrigo, a financial-crime prevention and risk-management services provider. Released Tuesday, Abrigo’s survey of 1,059 U.S. consumers also found that 45% of respondents reported being a …

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Eye on AI:  PayBlox Enlists AI for Statement Reviews; Colleen AI Tackles Rentals with Voice AI

The promise of lower credit and debit card processing fees is a big attraction for merchants to switch merchant providers. Statement reviews are a key part of that process and now PayBlox, a merchant services referral site, has enlisted artificial intelligence to help. With the debut of its Statement Spy …

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PayPal And Venmo’s Visa+ Entry Could Aid Interoperable P2P Payments

Enrolling PayPal and Venmo into the Visa+ interoperable peer-to-peer payments system may help foster even more P2P transactions, an analyst says. Visa Inc. earlier this week announced the two P2P wallets from PayPal Holdings Inc. had been enabled in the United States for Visa+. Users can sign up for a …

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With a Lower Cost and a No-Chargebacks Promise for Merchants, Pay by Bank Emerges as a Fiserv Priority

Pay by bank is not a new electronic-payments concept—consumers have been paying utility bills with their bank accounts for years—but the promise of lower fees and reduced merchant headaches is energizing the service, and work is at hand developing new use cases. Witness Radial Inc., an e-commerce platform adopting Link …

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Refund and Policy Abuse Is Replacing More Common E-Commerce Fraud Attacks, the MRC Finds

Opening the door to online commerce is an expedient and profitable way to reach consumers, but those with fraud on their minds also find a way in. Now, it is becoming tougher to distinguish those with good intent from the ones with bad intent, especially when formerly good customers start …

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Every $1 Dollar in Fraud Costs Retailers $3, LexisNexis Risk Solutions Finds

Fraud is nothing if not a persistent part of the payments landscape. It became more so in the past 12 months, as 60% of e-commerce merchants and 53% of retailers sustained increases in overall fraud levels, finds LexisNexis Risk Solutions in the 14th edition of its “LexisNexis True Cost of …

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Grocer Coop Expands Instacart Deal With AI-Powered Shopping Carts

Grocery-ordering and -delivery provider Instacart says Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc., a food wholesaler, expanded its partnership to include e-commerce and same-day delivery services to grocers that belong to the cooperative. The broader deal also includes access to Caper Carts, Instacart’s artificial intelligence-enhanced smart shopping carts. More than 800 AWG grocers …

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