Competitive Strategies

It’s a relatively new arrival among payment options for general merchandise, but the newest buy now, pay later concept has been available for air travel for some time, helping boost airlines after a tough year in 2020. In the latest development, Universal Air Travel Plan Inc. on Wednesday announced it …

Cardlytics Inc., a specialist in deriving marketing data from payments flows, has agreed to acquire customer-data platform Bridg Inc. for $350 million.Pay Theory, a specialist in payments technology for school districts, is integrating its services with Abre.io, a provider of administration platforms for elementary and high schools.Airvet, a provider of …

With the deadline for EMV-at-the-pump compliance up to four days away—and with a shortage of installation technicians slowing compliance—Sound Payments Petro Solutions, a provider of technology solutions for the petroleum industry, announced Monday it is partnering with fuel-dispenser parts specialist Freedom Electronics to provide preconfigured EMV retrofit kits to simplify …

Cloud-based point-of-sale system provider Toast Inc. has issued updates for its Toast Order & Pay services designed to smooth the ordering and payment aspects. Announced Tuesday, the updates include the ability to gain a pre-authorization against a credit or debit card using the diner’s own device.  Boston-based Toast also made …

More than a year after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, igniting fears that the virus could be spread by handling currency, a group of three financial associations and a Chicago-based cash-in-transit and money-protection service sent a letter Monday to members of Congress, governors, and state legislators around the country warning about the …

The buy now, pay later capability now offered by myriad providers is sweeping the country, but may include a few drawbacks that could hinder future growth, according to a report issued Monday. Research for the report, which included a survey early this year of some 1,500 U.S. consumers, revealed that …

Cybersecurity provider RSA said payment transaction volume using 3-D Secure increased 73% globally in 2020 over 2019 in its RSA Quarterly Fraud report for the 2021 first quarter.The payments provider FreedomPay said the Foot Locker Inc. chain has installed its payments system across Foot Locker’s more than 2,000 U.S. stores.Workflow-automation company DocuPhase announced it has acquired …

Square Inc. entered the acquiring market in Ireland with its Early Access Program, which offers small and medium-size merchants what the company calls exclusive access to Square technology. Square expects to launch its technology generally in Ireland later this year.Transact Holdings Inc., a specialist in payments technology for college campuses, said …

“We are looking very carefully at the question of whether we should issue a digital dollar,” said Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell in testimony before the Senate banking committee. “We are the world’s reserve currency and we have a responsibility to get this right.” As digital currency moves from the …

Just over a year after transaction volume in many merchant segments flatlined due to the economic turmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, activity is showing a steadily strengthening pulse, according to data released Thursday by Shift4 Payments Inc. In March, Shift4’s end-to-end transaction volume totaled $3.3 billion, up 40% from …