Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

Investors appear eager to buy stocks of payment-processing companies as evidenced Thursday by Shift4 Payments Inc. pricing its initial public offering at $23 per share, nearly 10% above the high end of the $19 to $21 range it had expected just days earlier. Shift4’s shares opened late Friday morning on …

Three weeks after an automated slashing of the reward cryptocurrency miners collect to process Bitcoin transactions, average prices are up while transaction fees have slipped. With respect to the price of Bitcoin, at least, this result follows an historical pattern. On May 10, the Bitcoin miner’s reward was cut in …

Citing the business disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Visa Inc. announced late Tuesday that it will delay until next April most of the interchange rate changes it had planned for July. The network also publicly confirmed the six-month postponement of its EMV liability shift for fuel pumps, and further …

Payroc LLC said it acquired Gateway Payments LLC, an independent sales organization with merchants primarily along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Terms were not disclosed.Weave Communications Inc., a provider of payments and other services for small businesses, said its Weave Lite tool set will be offered free for 90 days. Weave …

Alphabet Inc.’s chief subsidiary Google revealed Tuesday that merchants can soon have free listings on its Google Shopping tab. No-cost listings will become available in the United States next week and elsewhere before the end of 2020, Bill Ready, president of commerce at Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, said in a …

Saying the Covid-19 pandemic “is pushing the economy online,” e-commerce payment processor Stripe Inc. announced it has raised another $600 million through an extension of its Series G funding round. Stripe said it will use the funding “to step up product development, global expansion, and strategic initiatives.”Payments provider Clearent launched Clearent EDU, a free …

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. have postponed their planned U.S. interchange revisions until July, but when these changes do take effect the net impact on merchants will be deep, according to an analysis released by CMSPi, an Atlanta-based global merchant payments consultancy. Indeed, the new pricing planned by the two …

Payments-software provider Repay Holdings Corp. said it has integrated with lending-software vendor TurnKey Lender Inc., allowing financial institutions to fund loans at any time of day and accept loan payments by card or via the automated clearing house network through TurnKey’s platform or through mobile apps or other channels available to consumers.Upgrade …

Supermarket giant Publix said it is installing contactless-payment capability in all 1,242 of its stores in an effort expected to be completed by Saturday. The move will allow customers with mobile devices to pay via Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. The chain also said it is beefing up efforts to …

Seventy-three percent of U.S. adults say they would be more or much more likely to use digital payments or digital banking services during a time of social distancing, according to a survey of 1,043 persons aged 18 and up by The Harris Poll on behalf of William Mills Agency. The canvass took …

As the Covid-19 pandemic impacts businesses worldwide, global payments companies are starting to respond with relief. The latest is PayPal Holdings Inc., which on Tuesday announced several measures aimed at cutting fees and deferring loan payments for merchants. More than 24 million businesses accept payments or other services from PayPal. …

The payment card networks plan to postpone until July changes in their interchange schedules that they had planned to take effect in April, Digital Transactions News has learned. The delays come as many merchants, especially restaurants, hotels, and local retailers have closed or greatly reduced their operations as part of governmental attempts …

Electronic Payments Inc. said it will temporarily suspend the monthly support fees for its TableTurn and Exatouch Point of Sale products for three months.JPMorgan Chase & Co. is temporarily closing 1,000 of its bank branches, or 20% of its network, because of Covid-19, according to press reports. The remaining open branches will …

Payments providers are rallying support for small businesses, especially restaurants and hospitality merchants, contending with the effects of the coronavirus and urgent calls for social distancing. Just Tuesday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered all casinos and other nonessential businesses, such as personal health and beauty businesses, to close for 30 days.  …

As stock markets swoon in the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak and its effects, prices for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are sliding as well, disproving at least for now the idea that cryptos can serve as a so-called safe haven for investors. Bitcoin, the leading digital currency, was trading at …

Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments 2020 Conference has been canceled because of concerns related to the novel coronavirus. Nacha said it is trying to develop a free virtual event with select educational content. Next year’s conference is scheduled for April 25-28 in San Francisco.Dueling bills have been introduced in the Delaware Legislature that would …

The unprecedented impact of dealing with the coronavirus outbreak encircling the globe has hit close to the payments industry. Several conferences have been postponed or canceled, and one vendor has set up a relief fund for merchants. Point-of-sale system maker Revel Systems Inc. created the Revel Relief Program, which can help …

Private-equity firm InterPrivate LLC announced the acquisition of SurchX, a payments provider offering surcharging programs. SurchX was renamed InterPayments. Terms were not disclosed.ParTech Inc., a subsidiary of PAR Technology Corp., announced an application programming interface integration with eTouchMenu, a digital-menu provider, and ParTech’s Brink POS software.Priority Payment Systems, a subsidiary of …

A Wichita, Kan.-based restaurant chain will settle for more than $60,000 a case alleging it illegally added 4% surcharges on credit card transactions, The Wichita Eagle reported. Kansas is one of the four states that prohibit credit card surcharging.Big U.S. banks are providing the best payments-acceptance experience for merchants, but non-banks such as PayPal Holdings Inc. and Square …

Cash App may be turning into the product that ate Square Inc. The company on Wednesday reported a big fourth quarter for the 4-year-old product as officials pointed to a strong performance overall for the full year. “2019 was a very good year for us,” Square chief executive Jack Dorsey …