Competitive Strategies

Fraud at call centers operated by financial services organizations increased 39% from 2019 to 2022, according to new data from TransUnion LLC. That was the third-largest increase among sectors, surpassed only by travel and leisure and logistics, finds the TransUnion “2023 State of Omnichannel Fraud Report.” The report is based …

More than 10 years after Visa Inc. wrote its rules permitting surcharging on its credit cards, questions remain among acquirers, especially those selling or considering surcharge programs for their merchants. Now, as more merchants mull surcharge or cash-discount programs to alleviate some of their card-acceptance costs, and with recent changes …

According to recent research, American households carried a whopping $17.1 trillion in total debt as of the second quarter of 2023. The herculean effort to become debt-free continues to weigh on the shoulders of millions of Americans. We’ve seen the landscape of the U.S. workforce change drastically over the past …

The big processor Nuvei Corp. extended its reach into open banking Thursday through an agreement with American Express Co. to sell AmEx’s Pay with Bank transfer open-banking solution. Pay with Bank transfer (PwBt) enables consumers to pay for purchases directly from their bank account online or in-store. The partnership comes …

Most new corporate chiefs keep a low profile for a time, perhaps tweaking their predecessors’ strategies but announcing few major changes. Not so Alex Chriss. PayPal Holdings Inc.’s new CEO, who took over Sept. 27 from long-time chief Dan Schulman, took the opportunity of his new company’s third-quarter earnings call …

Deluxe Corp. reported a slight decline in third-quarter revenue year-over-year, with $537.8 million compared to $555 million for the same period in 2022. Its payments unit, its second-largest division, recorded flat revenue of $169.5 million, with its checks business posting $180 millon, down slightly from $182.4. Known chiefly as a check …

The big Montreal-based payments processor Nuvei Corp. said early Wednesday it will process investments in private companies through KoreConX, a technology provider specializing in enabling such payments for individual investors. Interestingly, the arrangement includes the use of both card and account-to-account networks to route customers’ investments, with a $50 minimum, …

Wellfit Technologies Inc. said it will provide payment processing, patient financing, and other services under a new agreement with Patterson Dental’s network of clinics. RentSpree, a management platform for landlords, announced it has reached 2 million users, doubling its user count in less than two years. The service enables rent payments …

The payments-technology provider Dwolla Inc. has integrated its Dwolla Connect platform for account-to-account payments in open finance. The integration will enable Dwolla Connect clients to transfer open-finance data to the Dwolla platform, the company says. As a result, financial institutions and third-party open-banking providers, such as Plaid Inc. and MX …

Observers of the payments industry who wonder how the Federal Reserve’s proposed rate reductions for debit card acceptance might be received by the nation’s biggest processors heard an unequivocal answer early Tuesday from at least one of them.  “Any time the cost of acceptance goes down, it’s a positive for …