Competitive Strategies

Embedded payments have moved decisively beyond their early role as a bolt-on feature for software platforms and are now foundational to how merchants operate, according to panelists who spoke Thursday at the Northeast Acquirers Association conference in Boston. Once viewed as optional, embedded payments are increasingly expected to function as …

Installment-payment platform Affirm Holdings Inc. said it will provide financing to customers of Virgin Media O2, a United Kingdom-based vender of mobile devices. In related news, Affirm said it has expanded its agreement with online merchant Wayfair to offer installment payments to consumers in Canada and the United Kingdom on top of the current …

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. early Thursday reported revenue of $312.3 million for its December quarter, an 11% rise from the same period last year, though its net loss widened to $33.6 million from $26.6 million a year ago. The Montreal-based processor, which counts among its markets the highly competitive restaurant sector, …

Nacha, the rules-setting organization for the automated clearing house network, early Thursday announced its Phixius peer-to-peer payment data network has integrated with Kinexys Liink, a data-sharing network from J.P. Morgan Chase. The significance of the integration lies in its ability to generate account validation from multiple responders for ACH transactions, …

Technology from Stripe Inc. will support transactions for PhotonPay, a Hong Kong-based fintech processing online payments for more than 200,000 businesses globally. According to PhotonPay’s announcement, released early Wednesday, the addition of Stripe’s technology will widen its offering of payment methods as well as reinforce uptime, though the company did …

UpdatePromise, a software provider to automobile dealerships, said Tuesday it has agreed to integrate PayPal and Venmo to offer expanded payments capabilities in the service lane. The move comes as payments technology takes on increasing importance at dealerships looking to avoid snarled transactions while working out details with customers, the …

Bolt Financial Inc., whose app offers checkout, identity, and payments capabilities, announced it is adding embedded investing capability through a deal with Atomic, an investing-as-a-service platform. Corpay Inc. said it will sell its PayByPhone mobile parking payments platform to Lightyear Capital in a deal expected to close in the second quarter. …

Even amid tariffs, geopolitical tensions, and international fraud schemes, cross-border commerce continues to grow. While consumers enjoy unprecedented access to a global marketplace, the payments industry behind that experience must navigate a complex, fragmented, and fast-changing regulatory environment. Country-specific regulatory differences are especially challenging for high-risk categories such as drugs, …

PayPal Holdings Inc. early Tuesday announced it has appointed board chairman Enrique Lores president and chief executive, replacing Alex Chriss. Lores moves into his new position after more than six years as CEO at HP Inc. The company also reported December-quarter results in the face of a steep drop in …

Visa Inc. announced Visa Direct, its near real-time payment service soon will offer cross-border money movement into the Chinese mainland via a partnership with UnionPay International, the Chinese card brand. The Fiserv Small Business Index, which tracks small business transaction activity across the Fiserv Inc. merchant base, declined one point to 143 …