Small businesses in June felt the impact of consumer reaction to reduced inflation, with their overall sales up 4.4% from June 2024, according to the Fiserv Small Business Index for the month, released early Wednesday. While the year-over-year rebound was strong, sales from May to June this year retreated 1.4%, …

A ruling in the United Kingdom could imperil the validity of multilateral interchange fees in the United Kingdom and Ireland assessed by Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc. A U.K. tribunal Friday ruled the fees infringe on competition law. The Competition Appeal Tribunal ruled the fees infringe on prohibitions to restrict, …

Credit card issuers and others relying on the credit bureau Experian plc to aid with decisions about extending services to consumers will be able to tie into Experian’s integration of Mastercard Inc.’s identity-verification and fraud-prevention tech in the Experian Ascend Platform. Announced Thursday, the integration means users of the Ascend …

It’s not a secret how cloud-based connectivity has changed payments, and now a quantifiable 78% of all point-of-sale product providers have at least one cloud-based POS product, finds the 2025 Directory of POS providers from TSG, an Omaha, Neb.-based payments advisory firm. The directory, which catalogs more than 5,500 data …

The scourge of ransomware is not abating, but some of its impact may be. That’s because companies are getting better at negotiating payments of less than the original demand, according to a new report from Sophos, a cyberfraud-prevention firm. In its “State of Ransomware” report, released Tuesday, Sophos says 49% …

Add another unique service to Klarna AB’s product roster. The buy now, pay later specialist is adding mobile-phone service to its product list. A waitlist is available now, with a launch expected in coming weeks, Klarna says. The United Kingdom and Germany are expected to follow. Klarna hopes to tap …

The U.S. services industry is huge—more than 135 million Americans in the field, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics—and ensuring they are paid is a key role for the payments industry. Two payments companies are helping with new services. Digital tipping platform eTip’s integration with Visa Direct allows …

Digital advertising incorporated in branded checkout is the newest avenue for PayPal Holdings Inc. The digital-wallet and payments provider launched Storefront Ads Monday, a service to get PayPal-accepting merchant products in front of online consumers. Storefront Ads not only showcases the merchant but includes a “Buy with PayPal” button within …

Buy now, pay later specialist Klarna AB is working with gift card platform Nift to boost customer engagement while retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods says it will renew its buy now, pay later deal with Affirm Inc. In the partnership announced Thursday with Nift, Klarna will be able to create gift …

Competition at the point of sale is just as tough behind the counter as in front. Two payments companies separately are launching new products they hope will give them an edge. PAR Technology Corp. released PAR Engagement, a portfolio of products meant to help enterprise restaurants win over more customers, …