Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Kevin Woodward Facebook Inc.’s newly launched integration of Uber, the car-hailing service, into its Messenger app relies on e-commerce-transaction processor Braintree to provide the payments connection. Facebook on Wednesday updated its Messenger communications app with a Transportation option that enables users to request a ride from a car service …
Read More »Global Payments’ $4.3 Billion Heartland Deal Points up Industry Shift to Integrated Payments
When Global Payments Inc.’s chief executive, Jeffrey S. Sloan, called his counterpart at Heartland Payment Systems Inc., Robert O. Carr, a couple of months ago, he had in mind the potential for a massive acquisition in the acquiring business. But, in making that call, he also took the latest step, …
Read More »As Mobile P2P Grows, It’s Winning Adoption With a Broad Range of Age Groups
The low cost and convenience of peer-to-peer payments may be ready to cannibalize a portion of the traditional wire-transfer market, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. The report also finds that mobile P2P is important to all consumers, not just Millennials, often considered the most likely …
Read More »Despite the Rapid Rise of E-Payments, Cash Remains Stubbornly Popular Worldwide
By John Stewart n If, as the saying goes, cash is king, it’s clinging stubbornly to its throne. Despite the emergence of e-commerce and the secular rise of payment cards around the world, cash usage is growing nearly as fast globally as cashless payments, according to a report released this …
Read More »Global Payments To Buy Heartland in $4.3 Billion Cash-And-Stock Deal
Confirming rumors that have been rife for days, merchant acquirer Global Payments Inc. announced late Tuesday that it will buy smaller rival Heartland Payment Systems Inc. in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $4.3 billion. At $100 per share, the deal represents an 18% premium over Heartland’s closing share price Tuesday. …
Read More »The U.K.’s Yoyo Wallet Hopes Soon To Be Walking a Big Dog in U.S. Mobile Payments
By John Stewart While many observers might argue the U.S. payments market has plenty of mobile-wallet entries for the time being, a U.K. startup called Yoyo Wallet figures there’s room for one more. London-based Yoyo, which launched with university cafeterias nearly two years ago and has expanded to catering operations …
Read More »Global Payments, Heartland Combo Would Produce an Acquirer of Wide Breadth
There have been IPOs galore in the payment industry of late and merchant acquirer TransFirst is in the dock, and the acquisitions of independent sales organizations by bigger processors continues unabated. But there hasn’t been an acquisition of a big, publicly held payment processor by another in some time. That …
Read More »Despite Observers’ Doubts, Wal-Mart Says Walmart Pay Won’t Weaken Ties to MCX
By John Stewart Thursday’s surprise announcement by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that the retailing titan will roll out its own mobile-payment service next year raises questions about its commitment to Merchant Customer Exchange LLC (MCX), the mobile-wallet consortium that Wal-Mart helped launch three years ago. Starting this month, Wal-Mart will begin …
Read More »Rising Consumer Affinity for Subscription Billing Could Boost Payments Companies
Changes in consumer shopping behavior and new ways for companies to measure how they deliver a service are providing a boost in subscription billing, especially as cloud-based services become more mainstream. “The size of the subscription-billing service market is exploding with the advent of cloud-billing solutions being offered as a …
Read More »Florida Lawmakers Hope To Add Octane to Lottery Sales Through Fuel-Pump Purchases
Point-of-sale terminals and fuel pumps as lottery-ticket dispensers? That’s a question some states continue to mull, though Minnesota tried it and didn’t like it. The latest state trying to juice lottery sales by making card payments easier is Florida. Bills introduced last month in the state House and Senate would allow …
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