Competitive Strategies

Early Warning Services LLC has for several years now been defending its popular Zelle payments service against allegations that its users suffer excessive losses to scams and fraud. The issue reached a crescendo three years ago with criticism from U.S. Senators about the peer-to-peer payments service’s fraud rates. With the …

PayPal Holdings Inc. and Google Inc. have partnered to leverage their artificial intelligence capabilities in an effort to create what they see as more personalized shopping and payment experiences across their platforms and devices for consumers and merchants.  The deal, announced late Wednesday, will bring together the two companies’ “global …

Payments-technology developer Echelon Payments said it will expand into processing for non-profit organizations by working with Create.Payments, a payments provider specializing in that market. Nuvei Corp. said its partnership with Loop Global, an electric vehicle charging services company, now includes direct local acquiring capabilities for turnkey unattended EV charging terminals in Canada. Embedded-payments …

Cheba Hut, a fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in submarine sandwiches, has launched a mobile app that supports ordering, payments, and a loyalty program. Developed with loyalty platform provider Thanx Inc., the app is intended to streamline both ordering and payment and encourage repeat visits. Ordering capabilities through the app are …

Acquirer Payroc is teaming with point-of-sale technology maker PAX Technology Inc. to make it easier for independent software vendors to use services from each company. And, PAR Technology Corp. launches PAR Games, a tool to drive loyalty and personalized interactions for merchants. PAX says the new collaboration with Payroc, called …

Payments processor Adyen NV said it is working with the luxury-goods retailer LVMH to unify the company’s payments systems across all of its brands. LVMH operates more than 1,000 stores globally. Payments processor Thredd announced it will support an expansion into the United States and Latin America by Reap, a provider of cards backed …

Google Inc. early Tuesday launched its Agent Payments Protocol, an open protocol to authenticate consumers who are initiating a payment using an AI agent when shopping online. Developed with 60 payments and technology companies, including Adyen NV, MasterCard Inc., and PayPal Holdings Inc., the protocol is intended to remove a …

Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment service, appears on track for a banner year with a record 2 billion transactions processed in the first six months of 2025, a 19% increase from the 2024 first half. The dollar amount of these transactions increased more, reaching nearly $600 billion, up 23% from $481 …

Buy now, pay later specialist Affirm Inc. announced it is offering its services through Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payments app for in-store transactions. Apple enabled Affirm for online transactions in 2024. In related news, the payments platform Klarna AB said it too is now available on Apple Pay for in-store purchases, in this case in the …

American Express Co. said it has launched a travel app that combines travel-planning and booking capabilities.  Developed in response to cardholders it says are looking for an app that provides travel insights, premium offers, and high-value benefits, the app guides cardholders in planning their getaway through what AmEx calls “curated …