Competitive Strategies

Prepaid card services provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. disclosed Wednesday that it plans to sell its struggling Cardpool business. That news came as Pleasanton, Calif.-based Blackhawk reported a loss of $7.8 million for its third quarter ended Sept. 9, bigger than the $5.1 million loss in 2016’s third quarter. Third-quarter …

Bitcoin’s remarkable ride continued early Thursday as the world’s most valuable digital currency broke through the $5,000 level and reached an all-time high price just over $5,200, according to Coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin had been flirting with the $5,000 barrier for weeks, and indeed briefly broke through it early in September on some …

American Express Co. announced its Business Loans service that will provide unsecured loans of $3,500 to $50,000 for small businesses; holders of AmEx business cards can apply online and receive a decision in as little as 60 seconds, AmEx said. ProPay, a merchant-acquiring subsidiary of processor Total System Services Inc. …

Bill.com said it secured $100 million in a funding round led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Singapore-based investment firm Temasek Holdings, bringing total investment in the business-payment network to more than $200 million; the company plans to use the funds for network expansion and to accelerate its distribution among …

Point-of-sale terminal maker Ingenico Group said its Telium Tetra POS terminal is now available in Canada through TD Merchant Solutions, the first Canadian acquirer to offer the device. Separately, processor Elavon, a unit of U.S. Bancorp, made the Poynt Co. POS terminal available in Canada. Ingenico said its touchscreen, countertop …

Financial institutions wearied of seeing nonbanks scoop up more and more of the digital person-to-person payments business, so they’ve begun offering the service themselves. But a report released Wednesday indicates those efforts aren’t panning out all that well, at least for mid-sized and smaller institutions. “Lots of hype and no …

Citing the heavier regulatory burden borne by conventional banks, the Independent Community Bankers of America trade group on Tuesday asked the Federal Deposit Insurance Cop. to deny merchant processor Square Inc.’s insurance application. San Francisco-based Square last month announced it would apply for an industrial bank charter from the state …

Wells Fargo & Co. launched cardless cash access at its ATMs using near-field communication technology. Consumers using the bank’s mobile app hold an NFC-equipped smart phone near an NFC-enabled ATM after opening and authenticating the bank app. The ATM then prompts for a PIN entry to complete the transaction. Wells said …

Ever since ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft came along, processors and merchants have been captivated by the idea of running transactions entirely in the background, without any checkout. That concept will emerge over time, but in different forms and not necessarily with checkout-less experiences, according to research released Tuesday. …

Elan Financial Services, a processing unit of U.S. Bank, announced it has worked with Ondot Systems to allow two-way communications on the My Mobile Money app. The app now allows issuers to communicate directly with cardholders to confirm debit card transactions. Belgian postal operator bpost has acquired Radial, a U.S. e-commerce …