As a merchant-specific barometer of small-business sales activity, the Fiserv Small Business Index for October may finally be showing evidence of an upswing. In October, the index showed a 2.3% year-over-year increase among SMBs, the strongest growth since July 2025, Fiserv says. From September to October, sales were up 0.3%, …

Truist, the banking arm of Truist Financial Corp., is adding more merchant-services capabilities to its inventory with the addition of broader access to Clover point-of-sale devices and Paze, an online checkout service. Both are in addition to a new digital merchant-onboarding process. Charlotte, N.C.-based Truist says it is raising its …

With the holiday shopping season underway, consumers are likely reviewing their lists with a keen eye on their budgets, making buy now, pay later and gift cards options a consideration for many, suggests the 2026 Consumer Holiday Spending Study issued by the Electronic Transactions Association and TSG, a payments-research organization. …

With 5 million passkeys in use worldwide, as of May according to the FIDO Alliance, the authentication technology is gaining ground over traditional usernames and passwords. Merchant services company Checkout.com is the latest to adopt the technology with its use the Visa Payment Passkey. A passkey consists of a key pair that …

Point-of-sale equipment and services provider NCR Voyix Corp. has lined up Bruster’s Real Ice Cream with a multiyear deal that will see NCR Voyix provide Aloha Next POS devices and Voyix Kitchen technology on nearly 700 devices in 230 stores. Founded in 1989, Bruster’s has corporate and franchise locations; both …

Consumers victimized in financial scams and fraud tend to feel that impact not just financially, but emotionally, too, finds a new Identity Theft Resource Center report. The “2026 Consumer Impact Report” determined that, among general consumer scam victims, 33.7% experienced an adverse impact, compared to 17.3% among traditional identity theft …

NCR Voyix Corp.’s Aloha Next point-of-sale terminals will soon be used in nearly 600 First Watch Restaurant Group Inc. locations. In related news, Priority Commerce says it signed a multiyear deal to process ticket payments for the Cincinnati Bengals. Atlanta-based NCR Voyix says its multiyear deal with First Watch also …

The allure of financial accounts continues to attract bad actors, and now they are using AI and deepfakes to impersonate legitimate consumers, making it tougher for companies to protect these accounts. That’s one takeaway from Microblink’s latest review of account-takeover fraud data. Microblink, a fraud-prevention firm based in Brooklyn, N.Y., …

With headquarters in Sweden and operations in 26 countries, Klarna AB is dropping the e-commerce border constraints, at least within its app with a new service called Consumer FX. On Wednesday, Klarna says app users will be able to shop at any participating Klarna merchant in the world and pay …

A new classification of criminal has quickly emerged. One that identity verification and fraud prevention firm Socure Inc. labels the AI-Fluent Fraudster. In a new report, “From the Frontline: Fraud’s Napster Moment,” Socure explains why this new classification reflects the burgeoning impact of artificial intelligence. Not only is AI making …