E-Commerce

The average ransomware demand soared 70% to $4.24 million last year, while the average payment was up 36% to $682,702. Meanwhile, phishing remains the leading root cause of data-security incidents, accounting for 30%, according to the 12th annual “Data Security Incident Response Report” released late Thursday by the law firm …

Blockchain Technology Consensus Solutions Inc., better known as BTCS, early Friday reported a nearly four-fold jump in blockchain revenue for 2025, to $15.2 million. The result comes as operators in so-called traditional finance begin to take a greater interest in blockchain technology and the companies that develop it. Total revenue …

Powered by international growth, American Express Co. reported early Wednesday that its merchant network now has more than 170 million locations worldwide. In his annual letter to shareholders, AmEx chairman and chief executive Stephen J. Squeri also plugged the 176-year-old company’s artificial-intelligence initiatives. What AmEx calls its “locations in force” …

There’s a new top U.S. merchant acquirer. Global Payments Inc., with an estimated $2.8 trillion in 2025 U.S. processing volume, has moved into the top spot in the 2026 TSG  Directory of U.S. Merchant Acquirers, unseating JPMorgan Chase & Co., which had held the top rank since at least the …

With nearly three-quarters of major U.S. banks reporting an increase in fraud losses last year, developers of fraud-prevention technology are scrambling to offer solutions. In the latest example, the Portugal-based technology company Feedzai has announced RiskFM, a tool the company says replaces a singular reliance on card-network data with information …

Payments processor Lightspeed Commerce Inc. announced a new AI-based tool aimed at helping merchants with inventory, product availability, and stock discrepancies.  Ticket Fairy, a digital platform that handles ticket sales and other functions for live events, announced its incorporation of AI in the launch of its new platform, Ticket Fairy 3.0. Founded …

It’s been 13 years since merchants were allowed to add surcharges to cover much of their credit card processing costs, yet confusion and complexity remain. Speakers at the Transact 2026 conference last week, sponsored by the Electronic Transactions Association, did their part to dispel much of this confusion. “Surcharging is a …

For years, PayPal has maintained two separate peer-to-peer payment services, though the brand it promotes most often for this capability is Venmo. But Venmo users have not been able to send money outside of the United States, limiting its utility. Now, that’s changed. Early Monday, PayPal announced a new link …

AI in retail applications is expected to generate $500 billion in incremental volume by 2030, according to the “2026 Global Unified Commerce Benchmark for Specialty Retail” report from Manhattan Associates. The report relies on research among more than 400 specialty retailers in global markets, including North America. Arguing that AI agents …

As online traffic powered by artificial intelligence explodes, businesses are struggling to differentiate between legitimate and fraudulent agentic commerce agents, says a study by AI-based fraud-prevention platform provider Darwinium. Some 97% of businesses report an increase in AI-based fraud attacks in the past year, the report says. Among these businesses, …