Competitive Strategies

PayPal Holdings Inc. has changed in ways large and small since Dan Schulman took over as chief executive two years ago, but perhaps its biggest change is its willingness to embrace collaboration with financial institutions, payment networks, and others once seen as keen rivals. At least some vindication of that …

A Wisconsin supplier of kiosks for employee break rooms is getting national attention in the wake of its announcement that it plans to implant radio-frequency identification microchips in the hands of volunteer employees Aug. 1, chips the company says will support payments. Three Square Market, based in River Falls in …

The number of payment facilitators is growing rapidly, with technology platforms and independent software vendors alike increasingly taking on the role. Yet confusion remains about just how a payment facilitator—or payfac, in industry parlance—differs from a conventional merchant acquirer or even from a marketplace. That confusion clouds the responsibilities payfacs …

Atos, parent company of France-based processor Worldline S.A., said Worldline has a deal with payment processor First Data Corp. to buy First Data’s subsidiaries in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, collectively known as First Data Baltics, for €73 million ($85.1 million) in cash. The acquisition comes little more than a week …

Faster payments may be in the offing, according to the Federal Reserve, but that term refers to the speed of clearing and settlement. It doesn’t mean new payments methods will necessarily go mass market any more quickly. Take mobile payments, a form of digital value transfer based on smart phones …

Speculation of a possible buyout apparently is boosting the stock of payment processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), according to press reports; one equity analyst recently issued a report saying a buyout of TSYS by processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) would be “a home run.” TSYS is scheduled to …

In a payments play on acquire and be acquired, Paysafe Group plc announced Friday that it has a deal to acquire Delta Card Services Inc., parent company of independent sales organization Merchants’ Choice Payment Solutions, for $470 million in cash. Separately, United Kingdom-based Paysafe also confirmed that it has received …

Retailer J.C. Penney Co. Inc. announced it now accepts Apple Pay in its stores. The Penney store card will be available for use with Apple Pay, enabling cardholders to earn shopping points through JCPenney Rewards, the store’s loyalty program. Merchant processor Vantiv Inc. announced it has been selected by Columbia Bank, Tacoma, Wash., to provide …

• A London judge has rejected an effort by a consumer group in the United Kingdom to bring an $18 billion class-action suit against Mastercard Inc., according to Bloomberg News. The case is related to the card network’s cross-border transaction fees. • Square Inc. announced that Randy Garutti, chief executive of …

Visa Inc.’s top brass talked at length Thursday about payments opportunities abroad, but they also noted that U.S. payment volumes, particularly in credit cards, did quite well in the quarter ending June 30. “Our global business benefited from an overall healthy economy as payments volume grew in every major region,” …