• Merchant processor Payment Data Systems Inc. extended the expiration of its non-binding letter of intent to buy independent sales organization Singular Payments LLC to enable Payment Data to finish its due diligence and Singular to conclude its audit; both companies agreed to the extension, Payment Data said. Terms of the stock and …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews The number of data breaches tracked by the Identity Theft Resource Center in 2017 hit 698 as of May 30, a 35.3% increase over the record pace of a year ago when the ITRC flagged 516 breaches in 2016’s first five months. The San Diego-based nonprofit monitors …

The numbers moved in the right direction for Square Inc. in the first quarter, with gross payment volume up 33% and profitability measures improving. But an analyst urged the merchant acquirer to disclose more data about its fast-growing but potentially volatile loan business called Square Capital. San Francisco-based Square reported Wednesday …

Data breaches are in the news constantly, but they appear to have no long-term effect on consumers’ use of payment methods. Breaches might, however, spur some consumers to switch hospitals, according to researchers. “Payment attitudes and payment behaviors are very, very sticky,” says Claire Greene, a payments analyst at the …

• Merchant processor Vantiv Inc. announced it will work with data-science specialist Womply to offer Vantiv BizShield and Insights, a service for small and medium-sized merchants that offers real-time data, advanced analytics, online reputation management, and threat management. • Processor Global Payments Inc.’s Campus Solutions unit has introduced TouchNet OneCard VIP, which manages access to …

• Mastercard Inc. has agreed to acquire NuData Security, whose technology identifies users from their online, mobile-app, and smart-phone interactions. Terms were not disclosed. • Fair Isaac Corp., otherwise known as FICO, said it detected 70% more compromised debit cards at U.S. ATMs and point-of-sale terminals in 2016 than it did …

• Private-equity fund Vista Equity Partners said it would buy Canadian payments and financial software provider DH Corp. (D+H) for C$4.8 billion ($3.6 billion) in cash and merge it with one of its portfolio companies, United Kingdom-based Misys, a software provider for retail and corporate banking. • Merchant processor Payment Data Systems Inc. said …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews An investigation by hotel operator InterContinental Hotels Group PLC found malware had been installed on servers that processed payment cards at restaurants and bars in 12 IHG-managed properties, the company said. And a federal appellate court told a lower court to investigate whether the class of customers …

• Processing-software vendor Womply has launched an analytics tool called Retention Intelligence to help acquirers identify merchants likely to leave the portfolio. • A 2-year-old startup called diningData, which processes payments and analyzes data for restaurants, announced it is now handling $1 billion in annual volume. The company is a division of Hadfield …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Merchants are quite familiar with days like “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday,” but now they’re waking up to a much less joyful day—“Chargeback Tuesday.” It’s the day when merchants, and online sellers in particular, get hit with the highest number of chargebacks they’ll see in a …