For the better part of two decades, I’ve watched the payments industry evolve from a straightforward utility into a labyrinth of technical complexity. Merchant fee structures today are no longer just the cost of doing business. They are a volatile variable that can quietly erode a company’s bottom line. As …
Read More »Cash App Tags Debut, Starting with a Wand
Imagine waving a wand and making something appear in your hands. While it’s not magic, the Cash App Wand could make that happen. Announced Thursday, Cash App Wand is the first in a series of Cash App Tags, which are NFC-enabled, physical payment accessories that let consumers pay without having …
Read More »Colorado Bill To Cut Sales Tax from Interchange Calculation Vetoed
Colorado’s SB 26-134, a bill that would have eliminated sales tax as part of the interchange-fee calculation, has been vetoed by Gov. Jared Polis. SB 26-134, similar to the Illinois Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, would have taken effect Jan. 1, 2028, had Polis approved it. The contentious Illinois law, which …
Read More »Early Warning Launches an Ad Campaign for Paze, Its Online Checkout
Early Warnings Services LLC told Digital Transactions News in March that a marketing push for its 3-year-old Paze online checkout platform would be starting in coming months. Early Monday, that push arrived with the launch of a national campaign running on TV, digital video, and social platforms. The new advertising …
Read More »Aurora Rebrands as Flute and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/1/26
Aurora Payments has renamed itself Flute and launched a payments platform that it says offers working capital, transaction reporting, and merchant servicing, along with payments, in a single account. Thunes said it has been selected by Canada-based payout platform Trolley to enable an expansion of Trolley’s international capabilities, including real-time payments to more …
Read More »Digital Debit Card Use Surged in the First Quarter, a Galileo Report Finds
Consumers turned to debit cards in increasing numbers in the first quarter, finds the inaugural Galileo Debit Spend Index. Released Thursday, the report found that consumer use of debit cards at both fast food and sit-down restaurants increased more than 18% in the quarter, a reversal of a downward trend …
Read More »Fiserv Signs up for Experian Link’s Debit Card Ownership Checker
Experian plc, most known among consumers as a credit-reporting agency, says it is collaborating with processor Fiserv Inc. on Experian Link, a service to make it easier for merchants to verify a consumer’s identity with debit card ownership data. Announced Wednesday, the cooperative endeavor will see Fiserv’s proprietary debit card …
Read More »Marqeta’s European Expansion and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/26/26
U.S.-based Marqeta Inc., a card-issuing platform, said it has begun offering account and money-movement capabilities in 30 more countries in Europe, working with Banking Circle, a global bank. Yardi, a rent-payments platform, said it is working with Zenbase, a company that lets renters split rent payments, to add rent reporting to …
Read More »Fraud and Scam Initiators Are Adapting, Again, Visa Says
Fraud and scam bad actors are adapting again to changes in technology and consumer behavior, but so, too, are organizations charged with preventing their misdeeds. In its “Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report,” Visa Inc. points to four shifts in the second half of 2025 as fundamentally changing how criminals interact …
Read More »1 Million Plus One: Klarna Adds EZContacts
Eyewear retailer EZContacts is the latest merchant to add Klarna AB’s buy now, pay later payment option. Klarna hopes to displace some credit card transactions, saying vision care is a plannable expense where credit cards remain the default payment option. Klarna says EZContacts customers will be able to use its …
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