Competitive Strategies

Decoupled debit programs may yet yield rewards for merchants, especially as they look for ways to circumvent payment networks and spur loyalty among consumers. That’s the take from a new report, “Decoupled Debit: The Start of Mainstream Adoption?” issued by Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Decoupled debit is not a new …

• Private-equity fund Vista Equity Partners said it would buy Canadian payments and financial software provider DH Corp. (D+H) for C$4.8 billion ($3.6 billion) in cash and merge it with one of its portfolio companies, United Kingdom-based Misys, a software provider for retail and corporate banking. • Merchant processor Payment Data Systems Inc. said …

The week started out on a fusion theme when a private-equity firm said it would buy Canadian payments and financial software developer DH Corp. for C$4.8 billion ($3.6 billion) and merge it with one of its portfolio companies, United Kingdom-based Misys, a software provider for retail and corporate banking. Also …

• Payments provider Clearent LLC completed its purchase of Payment Alliance International’s Merchant Services Division. The deal expands Clearent’s annual processing volume to $14 billion. • International payment-services provider Planet Payment Inc. reported that it processed a total of 191.6 million settled transactions in 2016, down 16% from 227.5 million transactions in …

• Retailer H&M Group said it will encourage its suppliers to pay their workers via mobile money or other digital funds. The initiative is part of the Better Than Cash Alliance, a United Nations-based federation of governments, companies, and organizations fostering digital payments in lieu of cash. Mastercard Inc. and Visa …

VeriFone Systems Inc.’s North American revenues plunged 30% in the quarter ending Jan. 31 as small and mid-size businesses slowed purchases of VeriFone EMV chip card point-of-sale terminals. But Wall Street took it in stride, and company executives stressed new growth opportunities when they reviewed the leading U.S.-based terminal maker’s …

All eyes in the person-to-person payments business may be on Venmo these days, but a few tantalizing numbers released last week by JPMorgan Chase & Co. could indicate that a new, bank-controlled payments service set to launch this year will literally give PayPal Holdings Inc.’s P2P app a run for …

For mobile-wallet providers, card issuers, and merchants trying to attract consumers to their mobile-payment services, the way to build a base of active customers can be summarized in two words: pay up. New findings from Auriemma Consulting Group based on research with 1,505 payment card holders eligible for mobile-payments programs …

• Punchh, provider of mobile loyalty systems for restaurants, has introduced a chatbot that allows customers to “converse” with dining clients on Facebook Messenger, Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa, and other platforms. Punchh says the chatbot integrates “quickly and easily” with existing point-of-sale, loyalty, and ordering programs. • Royal Bank of Canada said …

When the nation’s automated clearing house network introduced same-day settlement in September, it was only a matter of time before an application programming interface became available to simplify faster clearing. On Monday, that day arrived with Dwolla Inc.’s announcement that it was commercializing a same-day ACH API. The code, which …