October, 2023

• 1 October

  How Merchants—And Software Developers—Are Leveraging Embedded Payments

  

  Embedded payments are quickly becoming table stakes as developers look to expand their reach to merchants and small businesses. It’s no wonder embedded payments are quickly moving into the mainstream. After all, small and mid-size businesses are increasingly looking to deliver better and better experiences for for customers within their …

December, 2022

• 1 December

  The $100-Billion Question

  

  About three-quarters of online shoppers walk away when they get to checkout, erasing more than $100 billion a year in potential revenue. What is to be done? Most people celebrate December because they’re expecting to enjoy the season’s good cheer—as well as some long-expected gifts. Merchants, of course, like the …

November, 2022

• 1 November

  Why Earned Wage Access Is Taking off

  

  Enabling workers to access their wages ahead of payday is gaining popularity among employees and employers alike. Hourly-wage employees and gig workers incur unexpected expenses between paychecks, such as a home or auto repairs or medical bills, for which they don’t have the cash. Their choices are taking out a …

July, 2022

• 1 July

  A Look Beyond the Numbers

  

  After two years of stupendous growth, e-commerce is slowing. But is that the whole story? The numbers don’t lie, but they don’t tell the whole story, either, about what’s changing for U.S. e-commerce sales. Consider this. E-commerce sales as a fraction of total retail sales came to 10.2% in the …

February, 2022

• 1 February

  Why the E-commerce Meteor Will Burn Bright Post-Pandemic

  

  Consumers have turned to mobile and desktop buying in record numbers. Merchants and processors are figuring out how to sustain the surge. E-commerce has been booming since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and is showing no signs of slowing down. In 2021, online consumer spending totaled a record $855 …

November, 2021

• 1 November

  Billing Meets the Age of the App

  

  Bills and bill payments are going digital much faster now. That’s good for some e-payment providers—but consumers are seeing benefits, too. Even before the pandemic, a foundational shift in bill payments was under way. Now, digital bill payments have even more momentum. The push to digital payments prompted by the …

September, 2021

• 1 September

  Why Online Sellers Should Stop Differentiating Their Checkouts

  

  Rather than simply performing housekeeping duties, the real payoff lies in adding functionality to the customer experience. Here’s how. Online shopping is more competitive than ever, yet many companies spend large portions of their budget just maintaining capabilities that do not give them any competitive advantage whatsoever. Let’s get specific. …

July, 2021

• 1 July

  When P2P Gets Complicated

  

  The explosive popularity of peer-to-peer payments has led to increasing complexity in dispute resolution. Here are some suggested improvements. For the better part of 40 years, payment types and the industry’s main players have remained relatively consistent. However, today’s payments landscape is experiencing significant change due to the rapid adoption …

December, 2019

• 1 December

  When You’ve Declined the Wrong Transaction

  

  The problem of good customers being rejected online is only getting worse. There’s no single solution, but better authentication could help. As the annual holiday shopping rush sets in, a specter is haunting online merchants. It’s not the ghost of Christmas past or future. Rather, it’s the prospect of turning …

January, 2019

• 1 January

  The SRC Express

  

  A network-sponsored spec for streamlined digital payments rolls toward implementation later this year, promising cleaner checkouts but also stirring questions about how it will work. Remember all the excitement last spring about a so-called common buy button the major card networks were working on (“The Shared Checkout’s Slow Check-in,” June)? …