Competitive Strategies

FedNow, the real-time payments service from the Federal Reserve, has topped 1,600 participating financial institutions in the more than two years since the network’s 2023 debut. The Fed says more than 100 of them, plus two service providers, joined in the fourth quarter. FedNow, which enables instant payments between accounts, …

PayPal Holdings Inc. has agreed to acquire Cymbio Ltd., a payments-orchestration platform, with a closing expected in the first half of the year. Terms were not disclosed. Lightspeed Commerce Inc. announced Lightspeed AI along with a number of other new services. The AI service is aimed at aiding merchants in decision making …

Abrigo Inc., a provider of credit risk, compliance, and lending solutions for financial institutions, announced early Wednesday the launch of Abrigo Fraud Detection for ACH. The solution detects fraud for inbound automated clearing house transactions, ACH check deposits, wire payments, and ACH origination and receipt. Support for additional payment types …

Virginia-based software provider DXC Technology Co. said it will integrate its Hogan core-banking platform with the Ren payments-processing service from Euronet Worldwide Inc. in an effort to help banks and fintechs speed up the launch of card-issuing and payments offerings. The financial-services platform OnePay announced it will work with Klarna AB to offer Swipe …

Forage Technology Corporation Inc. has partnered with Adyen NV to enable Adyen merchants in the United States to accept SNAP EBT payments. Some 42 million U.S. consumers receive the benefits. SNAP, short for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is a federal assistance program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s …

PayPal Holdings Inc. is getting a boost from Blackhawk Network, a major gift card platform, which early Tuesday launched a promotion that could lift results for Blackhawk as well. Pleasanton, Calif.-based Blackhawk announced early Tuesday it is offering 5% cash back to consumers who opt in and buy digital gift …

U.S. payments platform Payoneer Global Inc. said it has acquired Boundless Technologies Ltd., an employer-of-record platform based in Ireland. Terms were not disclosed. RapidWorks Inc., a software developer for the heavy construction equipment industry, launched Rapid Payments, a service to help contractors collect, track, and manage payments within the RapidWorks system. TreviPay unveiled its …

Restaurant chain Steak ’n Shake says it has reduced its transaction fees by nearly 50% compared to credit card acceptance costs, while at the same time increasing sales by 15%, since it began accepting bitcoin last May. Steak ‘n Shake has nearly 400 locations in the United States. Steak ‘n …

The Credit Card Competition Act (CCCA) was dead in the water. Most of Congress would have preferred to leave it that way, avoiding a vote in which they would have to take sides between two powerful interests: banks and merchants. But President Trump, with a single Truth Social post on …

DriveCentric, a customer relationship management platform, said it will work with Dealer Pay, an automobile dealer-specific payments platform, to enable payment collection within DriveCentric. Landi Global introduced its P-Series point-of-sale devices. The company also marked its 20th anniversary. Chinese users of Apple Pay may now use Visa cards issued in China for overseas payments, ending …