Financial institutions have been battling fast-growing fintechs and other nonbanks for payments share and revenue for years, but now new research indicates banks, which have historically controlled this crucial business, are on the cusp of slipping from that dominant perch. In 2017, U.S. banks’ total payments revenue netted out to …
Read More »Eye on Crypto: Square Takes Bitcoin to 50 States; A Former Top Visa Exec Touts Easier Transfers
Users of Square Inc.’s Cash App can now buy and sell Bitcoin in all states, according to a tweet the company sent at mid-day Monday. The Bitcoin capability, which Square introduced in November as a pilot, is hardly a major business for the San Francisco-based payments company, but it is starting …
Read More »Commanding 92% of the Home Market, It’s No Wonder Chinese Mobile Giants Are Looking Abroad
One reason China’s Ant Financial Services Group and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are interested in facilitating mobile payments for Chinese travelers in foreign markets, including the United States, is that both companies are topping out in their home market. Combined, Ant’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay controlled an estimated $15.5 trillion …
Read More »Following Mastercard’s Crypto Patent, Intuit Wins One for Bitcoin Transfers Via Text Messages
Bitcoin’s volatility may have dampened the payments industry’s enthusiasm for the cryptocurrency, but payments players are now reaping patent awards for Bitcoin-related inventions they filed years ago. The latest example is Intuit Inc., the Mountain View, Calif.-based company behind the popular Quicken and QuickBooks accounting programs for consumers and small …
Read More »Worldpay Finishes First Full Quarter of Combined Operations With $1 Billion in Revenue
Having completed its first full quarter of operation on June 30, Worldpay Inc. on Thursday reported just over $1 billion in net revenue for the period from business lines that include merchant processing, technology services, and card-issuer support. That’s up 11% from what Vantiv Inc. and Worldpay Group plc would …
Read More »From Spear Phishing to POS Malware, a Security Expert Lays Out His Six Most Worrisome Threats
Malicious attacks on payments systems come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes, making it a nettlesome problem figuring out which types of attack require the most defensive resources. Yet, the stakes could be highest in the United States, where the average cost per breach, at $225, is one …
Read More »Microsoft Integrates Microsoft Pay With Masterpass In Its Latest Bid to Enhance the Wallet
Microsoft Corp. continues to make enhancements to Microsoft Pay in a highly competitive market for digital wallets. This week, the computing giant said Microsoft Pay has been integrated with Masterpass, the online wallet from Mastercard Inc. that lets consumers pay with stored credentials from a variety of payment providers. “We …
Read More »Bitcoin Cash One Year Later: Cheaper Than Bitcoin, But Still Number 4 on the Hit Parade
One year after the hard fork that created it, Bitcoin Cash is in some ways mimicking the digital currency it was spawned from. Bitcoin Cash’s price at $693 Monday morning has slid by about $1,000 in the past three months, according to CoinMarketCap.com. And it’s well under the $4,091 peak …
Read More »On a Hot Streak, the ACH Network Has Racked up 5%-Plus Growth in 12 of the Last 14 Quarters
The growth surge at the nation’s automated clearing house network shows no signs of slowing down. The payments system handled 5.68 billion transactions in the quarter ended June 30, a 6.2% increase year-over-year, according to numbers from Herndon, Va.-based NACHA, the network’s governing body. The network has now notched growth …
Read More »Will It Or Won’t It? Square Stays Vague on OCC Charter in Second-Quarter Earnings Call
Will Square Inc. apply for a national banking charter, now that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has opened the door to financial-technology firms? As of late Wednesday, the answer remains unclear. “We’re really well-positioned to broaden access to the financial system, which is our core purpose,” said …
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