Competitive Strategies

North American shoppers are notorious for their devotion to plastic. Credit cards remain the leading consumer payment method across the Continent today. However, mobile-payment methods are slowly revolutionizing the way they pay.  In a recent consumer-behavior survey by Worldpay from FIS, 56% of respondents admitted they believed smart phones will …

Helped by a collaboration with Visa Inc., Billtrust’s Business Payments Network recorded a 118% increase in payments volume in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year. BPN enables banks and corporate buyers to send digital payments to suppliers’ acceptance platforms.Capital Bank N.A. said it has upgraded its digital …

Key payment trends now being driven by the Covid-19 pandemic were already gaining a full head of steam much earlier, according to debit card transaction data released early Monday by the Houston-based Pulse electronic funds transfer network. Stay-at-home policies and business closings starting in March drove consumers to spend online and …

The Kroger Co. is testing contactless payments at some of its QFC (Quality Food Center) locations. The test includes acceptance of Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay, mobile banking apps, and contactless NFC cards. Kroger already accepts its Kroger Pay app. The QFC division is based in Seattle.ATM operator Cardtronics …

Sound Payments Inc., a multichannel technology provider that offers point-of-sale solutions for the petroleum industry, expects its partnership with National Retail Solutions, a subsidiary of IDT Corp., to accelerate adoption of EMV at in-pump card readers among independent gas stations and convenience stores. Sounds Payments argues its EMV in-pump card …

While the Covid-19 pandemic has raised the issue of speeding stimulus payments and other relief to consumers and businesses, The Federal Reserve system is staying with its planned 2023 or 2024 launch date for its FedNow real-time payment service, officials said Thursday in an update that comes almost exactly one …

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a fearful toll on payments processing, and on Thursday, in its first earnings call as a publicly held company, Shift4 Payments Inc. proved it’s no exception. Stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns, with tentative reopenings, clipped the company’s full-service, lucrative end-to-end payment volume in the June quarter …

Payments provider Lightspeed POS Inc. reported revenue jumped 51% year-over-year in the June quarter to $36.2 million. Its net loss widened to $20.1 million from $9.1 million. Total gross payment volume increased 17% to more than $5.4 billion.Lightspeed also announced the U.S. availability of Lightspeed Capital, a financing service for merchants.Payments provider ACI Worldwide …

It’s been an eventful summer so far for Fiserv Inc., which was hammered by the recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic but in July began to regain its footing, according to top executives who spoke Wednesday afternoon. Revenue for the Brookfield, Wis.-based payments processor dipped 1% in June but began …

TouchBistro Inc., a software developer for iPad POS systems in restaurants, on Wednesday announced the acquisition of loyalty marketing application provider TableUp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.  The acquisition was driven by restaurant requests for ways to market and offer customer incentives to return as restaurants begin reopening …