Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Since 2012, investors have poured $407 million into Bitcoin startups, with three-quarters of that sum flowing into the cryptocurrency just this year, according to figures compiled by CoinDesk, a Bitcoin newsletter. But now at least one expert is expressing doubts that these investors will see much of a return—if any—on …
Read More »MasterCard Expands Its Outreach to Software Developers With a Global ‘Hackathon’
MasterCard Inc. opened up its payment network to third-party software developers in 2012 and since then has participated in a number of regional “hackathons” in which developers create applications that link to MasterCard network services. Now MasterCard is expanding its footprint in the developer space by sponsoring what it calls …
Read More »CorFire Acquisition Bolsters Mozido’s M-Commerce Presence at Home and Abroad
Mobile-payments platform developer Mozido Inc. expanded its footprint in the budding industry sector with its announcement Thursday that it acquired a majority interest in CorFire, a U.S. m-commerce subsidiary of South Korea-based information-technology provider SK C&C. Mozido already provides the MoTeaf white-label payments platform as well as various person-to-person, bill-payment, …
Read More »With Holiday Gift Card Sales Wilting, Issuers Will Have to Push Harder, Add Digital
The earliest known example of a closed-loop gift card was offered during the Christmas holiday season in 1916 by Hampton’s Quality Store in Eugene, Ore. The store advertised a “Christmas Glove Gift Card” that could be given to a lady, allowing her to redeem it for the gloves she wanted. …
Read More »Digital River Re-Ups With Microsoft, Removing a Cloud Over Its Planned Buy-Out
Investors in Digital River Inc.’s stock reacted with exultation Wednesday morning when the gateway and e-commerce services provider disclosed that Microsoft Corp., its biggest customer, had renewed an agreement under which Digital River hosts the Microsoft Store online site. Not only has Digital River retained a client that accounts for …
Read More »NCR Silver Adds LevelUp as a Payment And Marketing Option
NCR Corp. has added mobile payment and marketing provider LevelUp as an option for merchants using NCR Silver, NCR’s tablet-based point-of-sale system, NCR announced this week. Duluth, Ga.-based NCR says consumers can pay with LevelUp once merchants activate it as a payment option in NCR Silver. NCR Silver is a …
Read More »Digital Card Device WocketWallet Shipping by the End of the Year
Consumers looking for a way to transform their credit, debit, and loyalty cards into electronic versions soon will have a new option with the impending shipment of the WocketWallet. Developed by Shelton, Conn.-based Nxt-ID Inc., Wocket enables consumers to scan information from their payment cards, and other commerce cards, …
Read More »EMV Continues Lifting VeriFone as the Terminal Maker Preps for the ‘Year of Product’
Point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. saw a nearly 20% increase in its fourth-quarter North American revenues as U.S. merchants continued to prepare for Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip card acceptance. Looking forward, the company is getting ready to introduce major new products in fiscal 2015, a year chief executive Paul Galant …
Read More »While Bitcoin Spending Fell Short, Overstock’s Byrne Remains Bullish for the Future
When it comes to Bitcoin, no major merchant has more experience with the digital currency than e-commerce giant Overstock.com, which has been accepting it since Jan. 9. Now, with nearly a year of experience under its belt, the retailer will close out 2014 with about $3 million in Bitcoin sales, …
Read More »United To Use iPhones as Payment Terminals on Flights
United Airlines is equipping more than 23,000 flight attendants with Apple Inc.’s iPhone 6 Plus smart phone to be used as a payment-acceptance device on flights. Distribution of the devices is expected to begin in the second quarter. United says the devices will be able to handle most onboard …
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