News

January, 2016

• 11 January

  Local Deals Go to School As Mega-Campus Arizona State University Opts for Apriva App

  The more than 72,000 students and faculty members of Arizona State University have a new app to help them find deals from local merchants. Dubbed ASU Deals, the app, available for iOS and Android mobile devices, enables users to search for local deals and receive notifications from merchants. Developed by …
• 11 January

  The In-App Channel Is Vital For Apple Pay, But Activity Overall Remains Weak

  The crucial role in-app payment plays in mobile-wallet usage emerged in high relief Monday in a report showing that almost one-third of all Apple Pay credit card transactions made in the last five months by surveyed consumers occurred within a merchant app rather than in a store. Over the same …
• 8 January

  E-Commerce, Especially M-Commerce, Left a Big Mark on 2015’s Holiday Season

  Two reports released Friday afternoon about consumer spending in the 2015 holiday season document continued strong growth in online commerce, although one report has e-commerce falling slightly short of earlier predictions. And mobile commerce is the new star of consumer payments. In its final report about the 2015 holidays, Internet …
• 8 January

  Avalon Solutions Debuts Its myOmny Mobile POS App With a Reseller Program

  Sales agents at independent sales organizations and software vendors have a new mobile point-of-sale service to sell merchants. MyOmny, which is available for smart phones and tablets using iOS and Android operating systems, has launched. Developed by Dallas-based Avalon Solutions Group, myOmny is an app that merchants download to their …
• 7 January

  Mobile Wallets ‘Off to a Strong Start,’ But Backers Must Work Harder at Education

  In the face of reports of generally mediocre mobile-wallet usage, a report issued this week indicates the picture may brighten soon. Thirty-nine percent of consumers have used a mobile-payments service in a store within the past year, and 73% of these have done so just within the past three months, …
• 7 January

  Blackhawk Network Shells out $120 Million for GiftCards.com And OmniCard

  Prepaid card services provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. has acquired GiftCards.com LLC and OmniCard LLC for $120 million, the prepaid specialists announced Wednesday. GiftCards.com specializes in selling digital and physical prepaid cards through its Web site. OmniCard sells customized prepaid incentive and rewards cards to businesses. Both entities had been …
• 7 January

  Chase Exits ISO Business With Portfolio Sale to First American Payment Systems

  Merchant processor First American Payment Systems L.P. on Thursday reported that it bought the independent sales organization portfolio of Chase Commerce Solutions, the merchant-acquiring and payment-processing unit of banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. Neither company would disclose the purchase price or the number of ISOs and merchants involved in the …
• 6 January

  After a Boffo Year, Will Payments Startups Reap Another Big Funding Harvest in 2016?

  It may have been a so-so year for initial public offerings in payments, but 2015 was a boffo year for private financing of payments startups. And early indications are that 2016 may be just as good. Through Nov. 10, there were 235 funding deals for payments companies worldwide, with investments …
• 5 January

  U.S. Processor Offerings Didn’t Generate Much Spark in 2015’s IPO Market

  Payment processors Square Inc. and First Data Corp. made headlines in 2015’s market for initial public offerings of stock, but neither company was a standout, according to recent market reviews. In fact, a new analysis by PitchBook, a Seattle-based provider of a data-analysis platform for venture-capital and other financial firms, lists …
• 5 January

  Security Issues Lead Young Adults And High Earners to Look Askance at Debit Cards

  Young adults and high earners have something in common. Both consumer groups are less likely than consumers overall to use debit cards, according to a report released Tuesday by Mercator Advisory Group Inc. The report, “Consumers and Debit in the U.S.: Heightened Security Concerns,” canvassed more than 3,000 U.S. adults …