Consumer spending on Cyber Monday met expectations, with consumers spending $11.3 billion, up 5.8% from a year earlier, according to the latest Adobe Analytics figures. The spending spree was so strong that during the peak shopping hours of 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, consumers spent $12.8 million …
Read More »Holiday Traffic Is off to a Strong Start Despite Inflationary Pressures
Despite consumer concerns over higher prices caused by inflation, spending for the holiday shopping season got off to a strong start over the weekend. Total retail sales in the United States, including in-store and e-commerce transactions but excluding the automotive sector, were up more than 12% on Black Friday from …
Read More »POSaBIT Enters Vermont And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 11/28/22
POSaBIT Systems Corp., a point-of-sale system maker for the cannabis industry, said its system is now available in Vermont, making it the 21st state for the company’s products. Bread Financial Holdings Inc. said its buy now, pay later product is now available to participating Versatile Credit Inc. merchants and their …
Read More »Backed by a Merchant Group, a TV Ad Pushes the Case for Controlling Credit Card Costs
A prominent merchant trade group on Thursday began running a TV commercial that uses Visa Inc.’s sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup to decry credit card acceptance fees and advocate for a bill backed by Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., that would regulate those costs. The 30-second commercial, which lays heavy …
Read More »COMMENTARY: Recession-Era Fraudsters Are Already Among Us
As businesses grapple with today’s economic uncertainty, many are facing difficult budget and resource constraints. But as company leaders focus on the slowing economy, they must not forget about cybercriminals. Placing fraud prevention on the backburner risks falling behind sophisticated fraudsters, who constantly take advantage of economic uncertainty, and refine …
Read More »Beware of Crypto Scams MyChargeBack Warns And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 11/23/22
In the wake of failures by the cryptocurrency lender Celsius and the crypto exchange FTX, MyChargeBack, a transaction-dispute service, warns users to beware of scams involving crypto-recovery promises. FIS Inc. intends to cut “thousands” of jobs, reported Bloomberg.com, in order to cut costs. Balance, a 2-year-old payments platform for business-to-business transactions, announced …
Read More »Clunky Checkouts Are Hampering Sales for Small Sellers, a Paysafe Report Finds
The surge in online shopping touched off by the pandemic has turned out to be something of a mixed blessing for smaller merchants. While it brought in a wave of new shoppers, it has also exposed a rising problem with glitchy checkouts at times of high demand, according to a …
Read More »A Boon for Embedded Finance And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 11/22/22
Revenue from global embedded financial services will exceed $183 billion by 2027, up from $65 billion in 2022, according to a report from Juniper Research. It classifies embedded finance as when financial services, such as banking, insurance, or lending, are integrated into non-financial user experiences. American Express Co. released a personal card application …
Read More »Payment Processor And Lender Newtek Gets the Fed’s Blessing To Be a Bank Holding Company
Newtek Business Services Corp., a small-business lender and payment processor, has received approval from the Federal Reserve to become a bank-holding company and financial-holding company through its acquisition of National Bank of New York City. Newtek entered into an agreement to acquire the bank in August 2021. Approval of the …
Read More »Cyber Monday Could See a Big Spending Boost
With just days until the 2022 holiday shopping season begins in earnest, retailers may have a glimmer of hope for more sales if a new survey from Deloitte bears out. In its 2022 Black Friday-Cyber Monday Survey, consulting firm Deloitte predicts that consumers will spend on average $205 on Black …
Read More »

