News

January, 2016

• 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 …
• 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 …
• 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 …
• 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, …
• 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 …
• 5 January

  Don’t Just Fill Your Fridge, Shop From a New Samsung Model With a MasterCard App

  You thought your refrigerator was just for storing and cooling your food? Think again. MasterCard Inc. says it has introduced the first app that lets a consumer buy groceries from a refrigerator. The app is preloaded into Samsung’s new, high-tech Family Hub refrigerator that features a 21.5-inch touchscreen as well …
• 4 January

  Wall Street Gave a Thumbs Up to Payments Companies in 2015

  It was a lousy December for payment stocks, but 2015 as a whole saw shares of electronic transaction processors far outperform the major market indexes, according to a new report from Chicago-based investment firm Barrington Research Associates Inc. Shares of 28 payments companies posted a mean return of 11.47% last …