Smart Cards

New research from Fiserv Inc. found that 16% of U.S. consumers have used cryptocurrency at least once to pay for goods and services. The survey of 2,200 U.S. adults also revealed that 25% of crypto users cited lack of merchant acceptance as the primary limitation to increasing the use of crypto as …

Contactless credit card transactions caught up to their debit counterparts as a percent of volume in August, with 17% of total card-present volume, as tracked in the monthly PSCU Payments Index, attributed to the payment form. That matches the share for contactless debit transactions. PSCU, a St. Petersburg, Fla.-based credit …

Mastercard Inc. said it will slowly phase out the requirement that its branded cards have a magnetic stripe in favor of the EMV chip. Beginning in 2024, in most markets, newly issued Mastercard credit and debit cards will not be required to bear the magstripe. By 2033, Mastercard said none of …

The increasing digitalization of global economies, along with the unprecedented growth in online commerce, means that consumers and businesses are demanding more from payments. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston notes that “consumers not only have higher expectations when it comes to online security, but they …

The big network executives aren’t quite ready to come right out and say it, but they’re certainly coming close to declaring their systems are just about at pre-pandemic performance levels. The latest example came Tuesday afternoon, when Visa Inc.’s results for the quarter ended June 30 prompted chairman and chief …

Appetize Technologies Inc., a provider of point-of-sale technology for the hospitality and entertainment industries, launched Appetize Payments, which combines payment processing with the company’s cloud-based software.Ally Lending, the personal-lending unit of Ally Bank, a subsidiary of Ally Financial Inc., said buy now, pay later provider Sezzle Inc. will offer Ally’s longer-term …

Repay Holdings Corp. said it is acquiring BillingTree, which provides payment services to the healthcare, credit union, accounts receivable management, and energy industries, for $503 million. BillingTree was founded in 2003. Repay also released its first quarter results with $47.5 million in revenue, a 20.3% increase from $39.5 million in the 2020 first …

With the deadline for EMV-at-the-pump compliance up to four days away—and with a shortage of installation technicians slowing compliance—Sound Payments Petro Solutions, a provider of technology solutions for the petroleum industry, announced Monday it is partnering with fuel-dispenser parts specialist Freedom Electronics to provide preconfigured EMV retrofit kits to simplify …

In a wide-ranging session, American Express Co.’s top brass Tuesday expressed optimism that increasing availability of coronavirus vaccines will soon induce consumers to travel and that the new Biden Administration’s policies are unlikely to have much impact on the New York City-based company’s core business. On an early morning conference …

At UL, we have seen both customers and merchants are experiencing an increased need for contactless payment options in brick-and-mortar stores. The current pandemic is a large factor in this, of course, but so also is the convenience and speed that contactless payments bring when compared to the traditional contact …