News

February, 2019

• 22 February

  Evertec’s Payment Volumes Surge as Hurricane-Ravaged Puerto Rico Recovers

  

  Puerto Rico-based payment processor Evertec Inc. suffered along with the rest of the island when hurricanes Irma and especially Maria swept through in September 2017 and destroyed homes, businesses, and the electrical grid, but now Evertec’s payment volumes are surging as the island recovers. Puerto Rican transaction volumes were up …
• 22 February

  The Brooklyn Federal Court Gives a ‘Preliminary’ OK to a $6.24 Billion Deal in Interchange Case

  

  The federal court handling the long-running class-action litigation between merchants on one hand and big banks and Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. on the other announced on Friday it has granted “preliminary approval” to a settlement that could award between $5.54 billion and $6.24 billion to merchant plaintiffs. The parties …
• 22 February

  PayPal Debuts Rainbow Card for Venmo and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/22/19

  

  PayPal Holdings Inc. introduced a so-called rainbow card for users of its Venmo peer-to-peer payments service. The colorful plastic, available for a limited time, is the latest version of a debit card PayPal launched last year to allow users to pay merchants with their Venmo balance. As with the original …
• 21 February

  ATM Operator Cardtronics Sees Better Times Ahead After a Rough 2018

  

  It was a rough 2018 for leading ATM network operator Cardtronics plc, but the company’s top management predicted Thursday that 2019 will be better. Houston-based Cardtronics early last year muddled through the end of its long-standing relationship with its biggest customer, 7-Eleven Inc., which is pulling down year-on-year comparisons. At …
• 21 February

  Direct Deposits Fuel Green Dot’s Payment Volume and Revenue Growth

  

  Green Dot Corp.’s diversification from a pure prepaid card management company into banking and other financial-services niches is driving direct deposits into its card accounts and spurring revenue-generating payment volume, according to the company’s latest financial report. Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot said Wednesday that fourth-quarter purchase volume on its cards …
• 21 February

  Once a Novelty, Chatbots Appear To Be on Their Way to Mainstream Adoption

  

  The use of chatbots in financial services is about to explode, if research released this week is any indication. Adoption will be such that the technology will save banks worldwide $7.3 billion in annual operating costs by 2023, compared to a projected $209 million this year, estimates Juniper Research in …
• 21 February

  Goldman Sachs in Apple Credit Card Deal and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/21/19

  

  Apple Inc. and the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will begin issuing a joint credit card this spring, The Wall Street Journal reported. The new card will tie into the Apple Wallet. Apple’s brand already is on a credit card issued by Barclaycard. It is unknown what will happen to that …
• 20 February

  Same-Day Transaction Boom Helps Propel the ACH to a $51 Trillion Year

  

  Same-day automated clearing house transactions more than doubled in 2018 and the value of those payments increased 83% in the first full year of same-day ACH debit service, NACHA reported Tuesday. The same-day volumes helped the sprawling ACH network continue its growth streak, with total payments up nearly 7% and …
• 20 February

  Sonarax Targets Payments With a Sound-Based Protocol

  

  Sonarax, an ultrasonic-communications company, unveiled a new protocol for enabling devices, including ATMs and those capable of mobile payments, to communicate with one another. Israel-based Sonarax says its technology enables pairing of devices and data transfer on both encrypted and open channels using frequencies that are beyond human hearing capabilities. …
• 20 February

  NAB Integrates With Vend and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/20/19

  

  Payments provider North American Bancard Holdings LLC said it is integrating its capabilities with retail-management and point-of-sale software provider Vend. The joint service will be available to retailers through NAB’s resellers. Digital Debit Group, a unit of Qondado LLC, released a Quick Response code-based app for iOS and Android devices …