Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
In the wake of 2019’s major merger-and-acquisition activity in the payments industry, the impact of Covid-19 is affecting the timing of deals, capital availability, and the due diligence process. That’s the assessment from panelists in the “M&A Trends in a Pandemic World” session at Transact Connect, the Electronic Transactions Association’s …
May, 2020
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15 May
Retail Sales Slump 16% in April and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/15/20
The U.S. Commerce Department’s Census Bureau issued advance estimates for April’s seasonally adjusted retail and food-services sales totaling $403.9 billion, down 16.4% from March and off 21.6% from April 2019.In one indication of the toll the slumping economy is taking on consumers, store card issuer and processor Alliance Data said its overall delinquency rate …
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14 May
Priority Technology’s Sales Machine Kept Humming Even While Payment Volume Plunged 27%
It was a nasty April for Priority Technology Holdings Inc. as the Covid-19 business downturn tightened its grip, but the merchant acquirer is looking to integrated payments and other growth areas to soften the blow. “In the month of April we processed roughly $2.7 billion in volume, which was down …
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14 May
Mastercard Says New Data Show Spending Headed Toward ‘Normalization Phase’
New network data from Mastercard Inc. show U.S. switched volume is off 6% year-over-year for the week ending May 7 compared with a 26% decline in the week ending April 30. Mastercard on Thursday released two more weeks of network data, for the weeks ending May 7 and April 28, …
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14 May
In the Time of Covid-19, Risk And Underwriting Practices Must Adapt, Experts Say
Payments providers and acquirers are having to quickly adjust to evolving risk practices as chargeback volume and return rates change during the nationwide Covid-19 containment. That’s important because the Federal Trade Commission, in particular, is using these two metrics as potential indicators of misdeeds, advised panelists Wednesday in the “Regulatory …
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14 May
Discover Postpones Fuel-Pump EMV Shift and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/14/20
In line with previous decisions from Visa Inc. and American Express Co., Discover Network said it is postponing its deadline for EMV capability at gas pumps to April 16, 2021. The original deadline was Oct. 16.Micro Merchant Systems, a provider of pharmacy technology, launched a service that allows patients to make contactless copays by …
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13 May
As Shut-in Consumers Turn to E-Commerce, Visa Boosts Support for Key Online Technologies
With the world rushing to their phones, tablets, and PCs to buy what they need and want at a time when most physical stores are closed, the payment networks are maneuvering to smooth out online transactions. This includes chucking clunky checkouts and opening the way for transactions to go ahead …
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13 May
Get Ready for the ‘Global Reset’ in Payments Spurred by Covid-19
The world’s response to Covid-19 already has accelerated trends underway in the payments business, and pandemic-spurred innovations will continue after the contagion eases, according to three senior industry executives. “The impacts of Covid-19 represent a true global reset of the entire market, not just our payments market,” said Philip McHugh, …
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13 May
40% of Consumers Pledge To Shop Online More and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/13/20
Amid stay-at-home and social-distancing orders, 40% of consumers say they will shop online more in the future than in-store, while 45% are using a mobile wallet and 16% are using paper currency less, according to a survey of 1,030 consumers by Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS). Some 31% will use …
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12 May
Eye on Acquirers: ‘Signs of Hope’ for Restaurants; ISO Parent Newtek Funds $700 Million in PPP Loans
Merchant processor Shift4 Payments LLC reported Monday it has seen a big jump in restaurant payments in the past week, and the parent company of independent sales organization Newtek Merchant Solutions says it has approved and funded $700 million in loans to small businesses under the federal government’s Covid-19 relief …