Debit Cards

American Express Co. felt the full brunt of the global Covid-19 pandemic in the opening weeks of the second quarter, and on Friday it released numbers showing just how hard the swoon in travel and other key sectors hit the company. Executives also took time on a conference call with …

Payment processor Repay Holdings Corp. acquired cPayPlus LLC, a provider of accounts-payable automation technology. Repay paid $8 million at closing and could pay $8 million more in 2021’s third quarter depending on cPayPlus’ achievement of growth targets.After a limited release in May, a 3-year-old challenger bank called Dave announced it will issue debit cards …

Some 75% of U.S. cardholders prefer contactless cards to card swipe, mobile payment, inserting a chip card, and cash, according to a survey of 1,000 cardholders by card-technology specialist Entrust Datacard.Alliance Data Systems Corp., a provider of private-label card programs, reported a 27% year-over-year drop in revenue for the second quarter to …

Discover Financial Services on Wednesday became the first major payment network operator to report its second-quarter performance, and things weren’t pretty on the credit card side in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Volumes on Discover’s Pulse debit network, however, rose by double digits. Taking the biggest hit was the …

Sales at small businesses included in the CardFlight Small Business Impact Report for July 22 experienced a 2.6% increase in sales week-over-week and are 25% above the baseline week of March 2-8. Food and drink sales were up 4.5% for the week and retail sales increased 4% week-over-week.Wells Fargo & Co. launched My …

Coffee king Starbucks Corp. announced new options beginning this fall for earning loyalty points, or stars, in the Starbucks Rewards program without paying with a registered Starbucks physical card or card loaded into the Starbucks mobile app. The options to be available at company-owned stores in the United States and Canada will …

Cryptocurrency platform Wirex has become the first such entity to obtain a principal membership in the Mastercard network. The move comes as Mastercard Inc. announced an expansion of its cryptocurrency program, which aims to make it easier for crypto card companies to market their products. Wirex also announced recently it has hired long-time …

The global retail-payment networks Mastercard and Visa are on a tear, acquiring and investing in adjacent payment-opportunity space in networks that can leverage and reinforce their existing franchises.  Their traditional payment schemes are dominant worldwide and near indestructible. While for the foreseeable future they could grow on autopilot, to their …

Payment card usage in the U.S. might be taking a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, but not the Zelle person-to-person payments service among Bank of America Corp.’s customer base. Charlotte, N.C.-based BofA reported Thursday that it had 11.3 million active Zelle users, including small businesses, in the second quarter, up 41% …

U.S. Bancorp, owner of merchant acquirer Elavon Inc., saw merchant-processing revenues decline 34% year-over-year in the second quarter to $266 million thanks to reduced consumer and business volumes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.Processor Shift4 Payments Inc. has been named the official credit card processing company for the Las Vegas Raiders National Football …