Competitive Strategies

European banks are beginning to roll out a new digital wallet called wero that initially provides account-to-account payments and is expected to be expanded to retail payments as well. If so, wero could prove to be a competitive threat to Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., which dominate European payments, raising …

Paymentus Holdings Inc., a provider of cloud-based bill-payment technology, has reached an agreement with health-care information-technology provider Altera Digital Health Inc. to include its electronic bill- presentment and payments platform in Altera’s suite of healthcare IT solutions. The deal is expected to streamline the billing and payment processes for health-care providers …

Strava, an online community for athletes, said it is working with Block Inc.’s Cash App unit to launch this year’s HBCU Homecoming Tour, which features running events at U.S. universities. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is reportedly seeking comment on Apple Inc.’s practices with respect to contactless payments as the regulator works on …

Point-of-sale and payments-platform provider Lightspeed Commerce Inc. said Thursday it is exploring “strategic alternatives” in the wake of reports the company might put itself up for sale. “While it is the long-standing policy of Lightspeed not to comment on market rumors, the company notes the recent media reports concerning a …

Payments processor Nuvei Corp. launched a number of new services, including decoupled pay-ins and payouts, and split payments. Embedded-finance fintech Sunbit announced an integration with payments-technology platform Stripe. The move will bring Sunbit’s services to a wider array of in-person service businesses, the company says. Business-automation provider BlueBean Technologies Inc. said it has completed an integration …

AppBrilliance Inc., a provider of real-time payments, has partnered with digital-wallet solutions provider Wallet Factory to enable real-time payments on Wallet Factory’s platform. Wallet Factory will use AppBrilliance’s Money API to enable payments on closed-loop digital wallets via The Clearing House’s RTP and the Federal Reserve’s FedNow networks. AppBrilliance launched …

Logistics provider Mothership Technologies Inc. announced it has adopted UnionPay as a payment option to ease international transactions. First Pacific Bank will adopt FedNow real-time payments through a connection to software provider Finastra’s Payments to Go platform. Relay Payments said it is extending its trucking and logistics payments network to Love’s Travel Stops. The …

Against a backdrop of continuing industry consolidation, community banks see digital payments as a key competitive weapon, according to newly released survey data from Bank of New York Mellon Corp. “Nearly 30% of those polled indicated that launching new technology services focused on efficiency and security, such as instant payments, …

Bluefin Payment Systems LLC expects its deal with processor Moneris Solutions Corp. will significantly streamline Canadian merchants’ payment card security through what the parties say is an enhanced point-to-point encryption solution. Under the terms of the deal, announced last week, Moneris will include point-to-point encryption (P2PE) capabilities in Bluefin’s PCI …

Payments play a bigger role than many might imagine in how hotels interact with guests—and can affect a wide array of hospitality revenue streams, says a report released late Thursday from the processor Adyen NV. Some 37% of respondents say they have abandoned the booking process because they weren’t able …