Competitive Strategies

According to Juniper Research, 360 million people worldwide used Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) in 2022. With such an expansive consumer base, BNPL has also become an effective tool for merchants to attract new customers and increase conversion rates. However, the widespread use of BNPL has raised concerns regarding transparency …

Block Inc.’s Square and Cash App units began experiencing system outages late Thursday, according to news reports. Cash App’s outage reportedly affected peer-to-peer payments, cash-ins, and cash card transactions. At Square, engineers reported early Friday they were deploying a solution. Point-of-sale system maker iPOS Systems has enabled Tap to Pay on iPhone for U.S. …

Though not as credit and debit card friendly as some industries, the legalized cannabis industry continues to create opportunities for payments companies. Among the latest developments are the release of POSaBIT Systems Corp.’s latest point-of-sale system and a new program from Organic Payment Gateways. Bellevue, Wash.-based POSaBIT says its POSaBIT …

Cantaloupe Inc., a payments provider for the vending and self-service industries, reported it processed $703.5 million in volume in the June quarter, up 14% year-over-year, on 278.6 million transactions, up slightly from 274.6 million. It collected $64.2 million in revenue, an 11% rise. In a letter to shareholders, Innovative Payment Solutions …

Hyundai Motor North America has launched Hyundai Pay, an in-car payments app that will enable drivers to find and pay for products and services using stored credit card information and the vehicle’s touchscreen. Hyundai owners will initially be able to use the app to locate, reserve, and pay for parking …

When the Cleveland Browns open their 2023 NFL home stand Sunday, fans at the stadium using credit and debit cards will be tapping and dipping via new Clover Sport devices. Announced Wednesday, the nearly 500-device installation in concession and premium-seating locations in the Cleveland Browns Stadium will make the arena …

Prepaid card platform Blackhawk Network said it is working with Visa Inc. to convert its Visa-branded cards from plastic to paper-based materials. Payments provider Central Payments released PayCP, its payout platform that initially includes a virtual Discover prepaid card, a physical Discover prepaid card, push to debit cards via Mastercard Send, and ACH bank …

Infinicept, a provider of embedded payments, Tuesday introduced Launchpay, a payment facilitator (Payfac)-as-a-service model for software companies not yet ready to become full-scale payment facilitators. Payment facilitators allow customers to accept electronic payments using their platform through a master merchant account. Examples of Payfacs include Block Inc.’s Square merchant-processing unit …

Visa Inc., which has been working with blockchain-based currencies at least since the start of the decade, on Monday said it is starting to expand its cryptocurrency services into merchant acquiring, largely for cross-border transactions. The move, which Visa calls a “pilot project,” involves the major merchant processors Worldpay and …

Mastercard Inc. denies an assertion it intends to raise interchange rates in October following an Aug. 30th story in The Wall Street Journal about interchange rate adjustments expected from Mastercard and Visa Inc. in October and April. Mastercard said the article relied on a report from an advisory firm that is advocating for legislation that …