In its latest update about the U.S. conversion from magnetic-stripe to EMV chip cards, Visa Inc. said more than 3.1 million merchant locations accepted chip cards as of June versus only 392,000 in September 2015. The number of Visa chip cards increased 214% in that time to 499.7 million. Some …

Merchant processor Payment Data Systems Inc. said its FiCentive prepaid card subsidiary will provide program management and processing and develop Web and mobile applications for University Fancards, which offers university-branded gift and reloadable prepaid cards. Speedpay Inc., Western Union’s bill-payment unit, has adopted a customer-guidance tool based on artificial intelligence …

Worldnet TPS Ltd. launched GoChipNow, a service for virtual-terminal merchants to convert to EMV chip card acceptance. VSoft Corp., which specializes in information-technology products for financial institutions, said it will integrate a payment service from Payrailz into its digital banking platform. Total investment in startups specializing in artificial intelligence, an …

Online-shopping site jClub Inc. said its customers can check out with a single click on mobile or desktop devices using the Google Pay button. Google Pay is a 3-year-old mobile-payment service from Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit. Facing growing concerns about privacy protections on its popular Venmo person-to-person payments service, executives …

Priority Technology Holdings Inc. said it purchased PPS Northeast, a former independent brand licensed office of Priority Payment Systems for an undisclosed amount. Payments provider CellPoint Mobile said its payment platform is now available to users of Runtriz’s hotel point-of-sale software for hotels and casinos. NACHA, the governing body for …

Finalsite, a marketing and communication platform for the education industry, launched Finalsite Payments by integrating BlueSnap’s Payments for Platforms service. Fiserv Inc. introduced enhanced authentication techniques specifically aimed at call-center fraud. Mercator Advisory Group Inc. released its “U.S. Faster Payments Forecast, 2017-2021, Update: The Consequences of Faster Payments” research report. …

Payment-processing technology company Pineapple Payments has acquired payment-gateway provider Transax for undisclosed terms. The deal represents the fifth acquisition this year for Pineapple, which says it is processing $3 billion in annual volume for more than 13,000 merchants. Payments-technology provider linked2pay introduced what it calls instant merchant settlements for credit …

In the wake of a major European outage for Visa Inc. this spring, major U.K. banks reported they had sustained a total of 80 “operational and security incidents” within their payments systems during the second quarter of 2018. British regulators this week began requiring banks to publicly disclose major incidents …

Shell Oil Co. and General Motors Inc. announced Shell stations across the United States now accept in-dash fuel payments following tests earlier this year. Shell Pay & Save, available within the GM Marketplace on certain Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles, enables consumers to pay for fuel and earn and …

Paysafe Group said it is rebranding merchant acquirer iPayment Holdings Inc. as Paysafe “with immediate effect.” Paysafe acquired iPayment this spring for undisclosed terms. Rewards platform provider Cardlytics Inc. said revenue from Cardlytics Direct, the company’s primary product, hit $35.1 million in the second quarter, up 21% from a year …