Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
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 …
Read More »Groceries, Drug Stores, C-Stores Yawn at Mobile Payments, Focus on E-Commerce
By John Stewart What kind of technology are grocery stores, drug stores, and convenience stores most interested in? Not mobile payments, at least not right now. That’s the conclusion of the Los Angeles-based Center for Advancing Retail & Technology LLC, which operates an online marketplace of retail solutions for merchants …
Read More »What’s in Your (Digital) Wallet? Chances Are, At Least One Proprietary Card
By John Stewart Ever since the launch of Apple Pay more than a year ago, mobile wallets have followed a pattern of recruiting financial institutions to enable their network-branded credit and debit cards to work in the wallet apps. But retailers are getting in on this action, as well, with …
Read More »Universal Card Provider ScramCard Pegs its Pitch on Mitigating Fraud Risk
Backers of ScramCard, a new universal card that offers consumers the ability to load multiple credit and debit cards onto one card, hope messages touting its potential security and fraud-mitigation benefits will reach welcoming ears. Like other universal cards, ScramCard enables consumers to load their payment card details onto the …
Read More »Mum About the Details, MCX’s Mooney Hints at ‘Plans on the Table’ Beyond Chase Deal
By John Stewart Last month, the spotlight shone on Merchant Customer Exchange LLC when JPMorgan Chase & Co. officially unveiled its Chase Pay wallet, set to launch next year, and said it will be included in MCX’s merchant-controlled CurrentC application. But, as big as that deal is for MCX, the …
Read More »San Francisco Sues AmEx Alleging Unfair Competitive Practices
By Kevin Woodward The City Attorney for San Francisco has filed suit in California Superior Court against American Express Co., alleging the card brand continues to restrain merchants from steering consumers to other payment options. Filed Nov. 6, the suit seeks $2,500 per violation, which City Attorney Dennis J. Herrera …
Read More »Square Low-Balls Its IPO, but Shares Pop on First Morning of Trading
By Jim Daly Merchant processor Square Inc. priced its initial public offering of stock late Wednesday at $9 per share, about 25% lower than it had hoped for, but positive investor sentiment lifted the stock Thursday morning in its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Square …
Read More »AmEx Introduces Bundled Payment Tokenization, Security, and Mobile Services
American Express Co. is now marketing a set of tokenization, security, and mobile payments services under the AmEx Enabled Digital Solutions moniker. Included in the service is the card brand and acquirer’s digital-wallet platform, near-field communication (NFC) and host card emulation technology, the American Express Token Service, and American Express …
Read More »