Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau late Thursday released a report raising questions about the part restrictions imposed by big technology firms like Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc’s Google subsidiary may play in hampering innovation, consumer choice, and the growth of open and decentralized banking and payments in the U.S. The …

Block Inc.’s Square and Cash App units began experiencing system outages late Thursday, according to news reports. Cash App’s outage reportedly affected peer-to-peer payments, cash-ins, and cash card transactions. At Square, engineers reported early Friday they were deploying a solution. Point-of-sale system maker iPOS Systems has enabled Tap to Pay on iPhone for U.S. …

Though not as credit and debit card friendly as some industries, the legalized cannabis industry continues to create opportunities for payments companies. Among the latest developments are the release of POSaBIT Systems Corp.’s latest point-of-sale system and a new program from Organic Payment Gateways. Bellevue, Wash.-based POSaBIT says its POSaBIT …

Cantaloupe Inc., a payments provider for the vending and self-service industries, reported it processed $703.5 million in volume in the June quarter, up 14% year-over-year, on 278.6 million transactions, up slightly from 274.6 million. It collected $64.2 million in revenue, an 11% rise. In a letter to shareholders, Innovative Payment Solutions …

Hyundai Motor North America has launched Hyundai Pay, an in-car payments app that will enable drivers to find and pay for products and services using stored credit card information and the vehicle’s touchscreen. Hyundai owners will initially be able to use the app to locate, reserve, and pay for parking …

When the Cleveland Browns open their 2023 NFL home stand Sunday, fans at the stadium using credit and debit cards will be tapping and dipping via new Clover Sport devices. Announced Wednesday, the nearly 500-device installation in concession and premium-seating locations in the Cleveland Browns Stadium will make the arena …

Prepaid card platform Blackhawk Network said it is working with Visa Inc. to convert its Visa-branded cards from plastic to paper-based materials. Payments provider Central Payments released PayCP, its payout platform that initially includes a virtual Discover prepaid card, a physical Discover prepaid card, push to debit cards via Mastercard Send, and ACH bank …

Visa Inc., which has been working with blockchain-based currencies at least since the start of the decade, on Monday said it is starting to expand its cryptocurrency services into merchant acquiring, largely for cross-border transactions. The move, which Visa calls a “pilot project,” involves the major merchant processors Worldpay and …

In somewhat simple terms, quantum computing uses quantum mechanics – an area of physics that examines the behavior of particles at a microscopic level – to solve complex problems more rapidly than on conventional computers. It includes elements of physics, computer science, and mathematics.   For the purpose of this …

Debit cards are the most widely used form of payment, while credit cards rank a distant third, a new study from J.D. Power says. Some 78% of consumers use debit cards at the point of sale, followed by cash (74%) and credit cards (66%), according to the survey. Other forms …

The shares of Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. reached all-time highs Wednesday following a report from The Wall Street Journal that the two major card networks plan to raise interchange and network fees in October and April. Visa closed at $246.23 per share, and Mastercard at $413.91. The networks have historically introduced new pricing …

Sending cash with birthday cards in the mail is risky, but now Hallmark Cards Inc.’s service with Venmo makes it easier and presumably safer. The new Hallmark + Venmo line of cards includes a QR code inside the card that recipients scan to receive the funds to their Venmo accounts. …

Sixty-three percent of consumers in a survey of U.S., U.K., and German shoppers say they prefer to shop in person rather than online, with 70% of U.S. shoppers saying so. The results, released by payments platform Digital River, stemmed from a canvass of 3,000 consumers across the three countries. Garmin launched its …

As consumers seek greater value from what they purchase, merchants are responding by diversifying their products and services to know their consumers better and grow sales, research from Square, Block Inc.’s merchant-processing unit, says.   One way merchants are engaging consumers on a deeper level is through subscription services, which …

Students at Loyola University Maryland are the first to use Amazon.com Inc.’s Just Walk Out technology in a Grubhub partnership. The tech enables students, faculty, and staff to shop and walk out with their purchases billed within the app. Funding sources can be a meal plan, account balance, or credit …

Restaurant point-of-sale provider Snack POS has agreed to offer EMV terminals from Pax. Soundhound AI Inc., a specialist in artificial intelligence, said it will work with online-ordering platform ChowNow to help restaurants answer and respond to customer calls. Payments provider Nayax Ltd. is working with loyalty-technology platform Giift to enable consumers to convert loyalty …

Shift4 Payments Inc. has expanded its stadium-pay domain by signing a deal with the National Hockey League’s St. Louis Blues to provide payment processing at the Enterprise Center, the team’s arena, and the adjacent Stifel Theater. Shift4 will also provide software for the Blues’ loyalty program, mobile wallet, and ordering …

Digital wallets continue to find a foothold in payments. The latest entry is BMO Commercial Bank’s debut of Extend, a virtual card service for its app. And startup Tezro launched a digital wallet aimed at integrating banking, payments, and shopping through messaging apps consumers already use. BMO Commercial Bank, a …

VSoft Corp., a specialist in financial-services technology, said its core-processing and digital-banking platforms are processing real-time transactions through an integration with instant-payments provider Pidgin. Payments providers ACI Payments and Link2Gov Corp. have been awarded Internal Revenue Service contracts worth $2.07 billion to support credit and debit card payments for taxes and user …

The recently developed ability to accept card payments on an ordinary smart phone, with no additional hardware, has electrified the payments industry. But the technology, known as SoftPOS, comes with complications that could slow progress, a panel of experts warned Thursday. SoftPOS, which as the name implies relies on specialized …