Competitive Strategies

• Independent sales organization BluePay Processing LLC announced its purchase of the merchant-services portfolio of VersaPay Corp., a business-to-business payments provider. Terms were not disclosed. • Merchant processor Total Merchant Services introduced Groovv mPOS, a mobile point-of-sale device enabling EMV and NFC contactless payments, as well as online transactions. The device links to smart …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews PayPal Holdings Inc. on Wednesday announced updates to its user agreements for consumers and merchants, and among the numerous changes are 0.5% price increases for several types of transactions involving U.S. sellers and foreign buyers. Beyond the price hikes, other changes include a new non-discrimination clause for …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews One-third of the payments that consumers made using Pay with Amazon in 2016 were on a mobile device, e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc. revealed Tuesday. Pay with Amazon enables consumers to use their Amazon wallets to pay for merchandise on other retailer’s Web sites. In a rare release …

• Processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) reported its revenue grew 30.4% in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, to $2.4 billion, from $1.9 billion in the same quarter a year earlier. Net earnings from continuing operations increased to $207 million from $105 million. For the year, revenue jumped 40.1%, to …

The cofounders of Revel Systems, an early maker of iPad-based point-of-sale systems, have left the company following a fresh investment by private-equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which has long been active in the payments industry. The press release from Welsh does not say why cofounders Lisa Falzone, who …

• Payment gateway USAePay launched a browser-based EMV application the enables merchants to accept credit and debit chip card payments. • Pizza Inn has launched a rewards app offering points to customers who order through the company’s Web site. The app was developed by marketing-services firm Punchh. • Sweden-based e-commerce-payments provider Klarna said it is buying …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Bitcoin may be commanding higher prices these days, but the flow of investment cash pouring into Bitcoin and blockchain startups is slowing down. Global funding totaled $550 million last year, up just 5% from 2015, while the number of deals slipped from 161 to 132, according …

• President Donald Trump is poised Friday to order a review of the Dodd-Frank Act, which in addition to creating new bank regulations established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Durbin Amendment on debit interchange, The Washington Post reported. • Some observers believe fear of President Donald Trump’s plan to finance his proposed Mexican border …

• Merchant processor CardConnect Corp. unveiled a new release of its CardPoint Mobile app for smart phones and tablets that includes a feature called Catalog that allows businesses to label, price, discount, and categorize their products and services in one place. • Point-of-sale terminal maker Equinox Payments announced that POS-equipment distributor POSDATA added the …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews As the new chief executive of Visa Inc., a company that is still digesting its former European franchisee, Alfred Kelly has had a busy couple of months. Since taking charge from former CEO Charles W. Scharf in December, Kelly has stopped by 12 Visa offices globally, met …