Competitive Strategies

TechCreate Group Ltd., a Singapore-based payments-software provider and consultancy, is partnering with quantum cybersecurity-solutions firm pQCee Pte Ltd to incorporate the National Institute of Standards and Technology post-quantum cryptography algorithms in its QR Hybrid point-of-sale terminals. A QR hybrid POS device adds QR code scanning for digital wallets, mobile apps, …

The climb in same-day automated clearing house volume continues as 403 million of these payments were made in 2026’s first quarter, a 23.6% increase from the same quarter a year ago. Started in 2016 for credit payments only, same-day ACH volume has steadily grown, especially with the 2017 addition of …

Opponents of Illinois’s controversial Interchange Fee Prohibition Act have ratcheted up the pressure to preempt the law at the federal level or overturn it at the state level. The latest effort comes after a federal judge earlier this year upheld the law’s key provision, which exempts Illinois merchants from paying …

Blackhawk Network, best known as a gift card platform, says it wants to make it easier for brands to present a consolidated view of a consumer’s gift card balance, refunds, promotional funds, loyalty rewards, and funds used to appease unhappy shoppers. The company’s new stored-value platform enables brands to send …

Quantiiv, an AI-powered data warehouse and analytics platform for restaurants, has launched what it calls a virtual executive that provides restaurant managers with management insights, reportedly without having to navigate dashboards across disparate applications.    The application, known as ROGER, provides an email-based interface that allows managers to send the …

As the number of U.S. consumers who have heard nothing at all about artificial intelligence continues to drop, organizations are preparing for the expected infusion of AI into everyday life. Payments companies are no exception. American Express Co. is releasing a software-development kit called Agentic Commerce Experiences to help consumers …

SpotOn Transact LLC, a specialist in hospitality payments, launched a service called Rapid Fund, which makes card deposits available within 30 minutes of batching out. It is also taking on a partnership with embedded-finance platform Parafin to operate SpotOn Capital. Both efforts are intended to aid restaurants looking to manage …

SoFi Bank N.A. has enlisted Galileo Financial Technologies LLC to offer real-time send and receive capabilities every day, including weekends and holidays, through FedNow. As a result, SoFi customers will be able to move money between their accounts at different banks in seconds, instead of waiting for ACH transfers to …