Competitive Strategies

Overall, the forecast is strong for open-loop prepaid cards—loads are expected to reach $353.6 billion by 2020—but not every segment will partake in the growth. That’s the assessment in a new report from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Open-loop cards, which can be used at most merchants and carry a major …

Worldpay has asked for second extension, this time to Aug. 11 after a first one to Aug. 8, of a British regulatory deadline as Worldpay and Vantiv Inc. executives put the finishing touches on Vantiv’s proposed $9.9 billion buyout offer for the London-based merchant acquirer. Reuters reported that the companies expect to announce a final …

First Data Corp. executives Monday highlighted rapid growth in the processor’s Clover Network line of tablet-based point-of-sale devices, and also said attrition has come down significantly among small merchants. Not so hot are First Data’s joint merchant-acquiring ventures with big banks, but the company insists their revenue softness is only …

Chinese tourism abroad has already taken off, and it’s expected to grow ever larger in coming years, lifting sales for merchants in the United States and other parts of the world. The latest company to set itself up to cash in on the trend is Marriott International Inc., which on …

Merchant processor Vantiv Inc. on Monday launched triPOS Cloud, a cloud-based application programming interface intended for independent software vendors and merchants looking to integrate payments with point-of-sale systems. As an API, triPOS Cloud enables developers to integrate payments functions with a few pieces of code. The service incorporates encryption and tokenization, …

MoneyGram International Inc. reported second-quarter revenue of $410 million, flat with 2016’s second quarter on a constant-currency basis. Digital money-transfer revenue increased 10% and now accounts for 15% of total money-transfer revenue. Net income doubled to $6.2 million. In May, MoneyGram shareholders approved a merger of MoneyGram with Ant Financial Services Group, …

Evidence is emerging that efforts to convince more consumers to use contactless payments instead of cash for low-value transactions may be having an impact, at least in countries other than the United States for now. That’s the take from Cardtronics plc, the giant ATM operator that owned nearly 45,000 U.S. …

Citing possible regulatory hurdles, payment processor First Data Corp. and commercial payments provider Fleetcor Technologies Inc. disclosed Thursday that they have canceled the planned joint venture they announced in March to consolidate their gift card businesses. “While both companies believe the proposed joint venture would provide significant benefits to customers …

Artificial-intelligence technology, on which a number of payments applications have begun to rely over the past year or so, just keeps getting hotter. Nearly 700 funding deals for AI startups were concluded in 2016, up 33% from 2015, according to a report released this week by CBInsights, a New York …

Payments provider National Merchants Association announced it is using the PhoeniXGate gateway from Phoenix Managed Networks. Fleetcor Technologies Inc., a vendor of commercial-payment technology, reported second-quarter results, including a year-over-year increase of 29.5% in total revenue to $541.2 million and GAAP net income of $131 million, up 12.7%. The Western Union Co. reported …