Competitive Strategies

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Mobile-wallet adoption might get a boost through the rest of 2016 as 29% of consumers expect to use a mobile wallet like Apple Pay, Android Pay, or Samsung Pay before the end of the year, finds a survey from Computer Services Inc., a financial-technology company. Most—71%—had no …

• The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and its Michigan State Disbursement unit are allowing parents who choose a cash option online for child-support payments to make the payments at 7-Eleven and Family Dollar stores, with processing handled by PayNearMe. The arrangement follows a similar venture in which PayNearMe …

PayRange Inc., a specialist in contactless payments for vending machines, is making good on $12 million in funding it raised last year with a couple of contract announcements. Portland, Ore.-based PayRange said Monday the Canadian National Vending Alliance, a coalition of large vending operators in Canada, will equip all vending …

• The U.S. Marshals Service announced that bidder registration began today for its Aug. 22 online auction of 2,719.33 Bitcoins forfeited to the government in various criminal, civil, and administrative cases. The Bitcoins, which will be sold in one block, are worth nearly $1.61 million at today’s price of $590.25 …

By Jim Daly@DTPaymentNews The notion of the federal government auctioning off Bitcoin seized in drug busts and other actions looks like it’s an idea with some staying power. The U.S. Marshals Service on Monday scheduled yet another auction of the virtual currency in the wake of the four it conducted …

By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews It’s no secret the U.S. point of sale is undergoing perhaps the most extensive overhaul in its long and storied history, but now there’s evidence that a crowd of technology startups are sharing in the bounty that sweeping modernization is generating. Point-of-sale startups will likely reap …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews Consumers using near-field communication (NFC)-enabled payment cards and smart phones enabled with mobile wallets soon will be able to use them to pay for transit rides operated by the Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transportation and Public Works, Cubic Corp. recently announced. The contract is valued at $33 …

• The Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index found that checks, at 90%, and cash, at 72%, continue to reign as the top payment methods accepted by small businesses. A printed check from a bill-pay service was next, at 53%, followed by credit or debit card at a point-of-sale terminal, 42%, …

• Processor Fiserv Inc. will market Early Warning LLC’s clearXchange person-to-person real-time payments network to its financial-institution clients under a new agreement. The deal follows a similar arrangement the companies reached last year for real-time bill payments and deposits. Fiserv also said adjusted second-quarter revenues in its payments segment increased nearly 11% …

By Jim Daly @DTPaymentNews Square Inc. reported Wednesday that its payment volume grew 42% in the second quarter to $12.5 billion, and, while still reporting a loss, the merchant processor edged toward profitability as its adjusted revenues jumped 54%. Square, which began signing merchants in 2010, also raised its financial …