Acquiring

Unceasing competition for restaurant payments revenue has spurred two developments among point-of-sale system makers catering to the segment. Santa Clara, Calif.-based SoundHound AI Inc. says Olo, a New York City-based hospitality specialist, will make SoundHound’s voice-ordering service, which relies on artificial intelligence, available to its approximately 77,000 merchant locations. When …

The hotly contested restaurant point-of-sale market shows no signs of cooling off. Inspire Brands Inc., a global restaurant chain that is home to Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Dunkin’, and four other brands, has expanded its work with processor Fiserv Inc. with the goal of unifying in-store, in-app, and online transactions for more …

The Federal Reserve issued a set of market practices, or a kind of blueprint, as part of an effort to introduce standards for a request for payment function for bill pay on the regulator’s FedNow real-time payments service, which launched nationwide in July. Block Inc.’s Square point-of-sale unit launched Tap to Pay on Android …

Citcon USA LLC, an e-commerce wallet-technology provider, is adding Block Inc.’s Cash App Pay and Afterpay buy now, pay later payment methods to its inventory of merchant options. In related news, Block’s Square point-of-sale unit is bolstering merchant selling tools with new online features. Citcon’s integration of Cash App Pay, …

FlexPoint announced its launch as a payments platform for so-called managed-service providers, or organizations that provide information-technology services to companies. Flexpoint also announced a long-term financing program for clients through GreatAmerica Financial Services. Automaker Mitsubishi Electric said it has enlisted BlackBerry Ltd. to supply in-vehicle data services, including digital payments. Commerce-technology provider Treez launched new payments …

The major processor Shift4 Payments Inc. is expanding its presence in the non-profit sector through a partnership with Give Lively, a fintech platform provider for that market. Shift4 said it will begin processing payments for Give Lively in 2024. In addition, Shift4 will expand payment options on Give Lively’s platform …

The number of digital transactions globally will rise 12% in 2024 to cross the 1-trillion mark, Juniper Research forecasts. Near-field communication (NFC) payments, otherwise known as tap-and-pay, will grow fastest, at 30%, followed by digital ticketing (19%), according to Juniper. The Canada-based commerce platform Shopify will enable payments for India-based e-commerce merchants directly on …

North American Bancard has joined a growing list of processors offering Tap to Pay on iPhone or its Android-based equivalent to merchants for contactless transactions. A big advantage of Tap to Pay on iPhone, especially for small and micro-merchants, is that it enables them to accept in-person contactless payments on …

Varo Bank entered the peer-to-peer payments fray with Varo to Anyone, which allows Varo accountholders to send funds to anyone who holds a U.S. debit card. Varo says the service carries no fee. Mitek Systems Inc. announced it has agreed to offer its biometric-based identity verification technology to complement the credit-reporting agency Equifax Inc.’s …

Supporters and U.S. Senate sponsors of the Credit Card Competition Act stepped up pressure to pass the bill Wednesday with a Washington press conference featuring Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.). The legislators attacked merchants’ card-transaction costs as price gouging and said the levies make …