Competitive Strategies

The digital payments innovators used to be Mastercard and Visa, but with the rise of PayPal, it’s been a new game. Then along came Alipay and Apple Pay and many other local or specialized payment methods, making the playing field even more competitive for these card payment platforms. Visa Checkout …

Payments industry veteran Dan Henry has been named chairman of 3PEA International Inc., a prepaid card program manager. President and chief executive Mark Newcomer, who co-founded the company and has served as chairman since 2006, will become vice chairman. Henry was until recently chief executive of prepaid card specialist NetSpend, …

The proliferation of smart watches, voice commerce, and vehicle-based payments has got merchants abuzz about the potential for making purchases more convenient. But securing these payments is a scattershot affair, with each provider wielding its own protocols, attendees learned at the CNP Expo this week in Orlando, Fla. Payments companies …

The PCI Security Standards Council issued what it calls a “minor update” to the current version 3.2 of the Payment Card Industry data-security standard. Version 3.2.1 adds no new requirements and is meant to eliminate any confusion regarding effective dates for existing PCI DSS requirements and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) …

In its biggest acquisition yet, PayPal Holdings Inc. is buying Stockholm-based payments firm iZettle AB for $2.2 billion. The San Jose, Calif.-based online payments provider late Thursday confirmed an afternoon of rumors about the pending deal. Jacob de Geer, iZettle’s chief executive and co-founder, will stay on after the acquisition’s …

Retail ATM network owner and operator Cardtronics plc said Fifth Third Bank will place its brand on more than 800 Cardtronics ATMs at Speedway LLC convenience stores in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. In related news, Indiana-based German American Bank said it has joined Cardtronics plc’s Allpoint network, giving its customers access …

Selling gift cards online makes a lot of sense for many merchants, but criminals know that, too, and have quickly figured out ways to steal the cards. Now, as merchants have increased their sophistication in countering these thefts, so too have criminals figured ways to foil the merchants. “Gift cards …

With each week that passes, the so-called unified buy button concept introduced by the major card networks last month takes on more definition, but despite all the discussion, the idea of an online checkout shared by multiple payment networks remains too vague—and too futuristic—to suit some expert observers. “I keep …

The struggling merchant processor Spindle Inc. canceled its planned acquisition of independent sales organization and gateway provider VyaPay, but reported Wednesday that it plans to form a so-called strategic alliance with VyaPay, and VyaPay’s chief executive will provide day-to-day management of Spindle. Mesa, Ariz.-based Spindle, whose shares trade over the …

The movie-ticketing app Atom Tickets has struck a deal with Landmark Theatres, said to be the country’s largest exhibitor of independent films, to add the company’s 53 theaters and 255 screens in 27 markets across the country. The deal will boost Atom Tickets’ coverage that includes more than 20,000 screens …