First-quarter growth in leading merchant processor First Data Corp.’s portfolios lagged growth posted in the preceding two quarters, but in a rare event physical merchants posted higher sales increases than their online counterparts. In its latest SpendTrend report, First Data says total payment card spending at U.S. merchants on its …
Read More »BAMS Lands Sezzle and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/20/19
Sezzle, an online provider of installment loans to consumers, will use the Bank of America Merchant Services platform for digital card processing. Lavu, provider of mobile point-of-sale systems for restaurants and bars, certified three receipt printers from Epson America Inc. Lavu previously certified Epson’s Mobilink line of mobile receipt printers. …
Read More »Grocery, an Online Laggard, Is Perking up Fast, Though Most Users Still Buy Little
Of all e-commerce markets, grocery has long lagged behind in consumer adoption. But now there are signs that may be changing fast. In the year since early 2018, the proportion of U.S. consumers who had bought groceries online in the prior 12 months jumped from 23.1% to 36.8%, according to …
Read More »Loyalty Programs at Cannabis Retailers and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/14/19
POSaBIT, a point-of-sale services provider for cannabis retailers, said an analysis of “hundreds of thousands” of transactions at more than 120 California, Washington, and Colorado stores found that consumers belonging to a cannabis retailer’s loyalty rewards program had a 28% higher average ticket value and visited the store more frequently …
Read More »Priority Technology Focuses on Growing Segments as Subscription-Billing Business Shrinks
Transaction and dollar volume for Priority Technology Holdings Inc. managed to grow in the first quarter despite the downsizing of the merchant processor’s formerly large online subscription-billing business. Alpharetta, Ga.-based Priority reported Monday that merchant bank card processing volume rose 8.8% to $9.9 billion versus $9.1 billion in 2018’s first …
Read More »SurchX Debuts Online Surcharge Service and other Digital Transactions News briefs form 5/13/19
SurchX, a surcharging specialist, launched SurchX for e-commerce platform Magento. SurchX automatically calculates surcharges and fee structures based on card type and jurisdiction. The fee can be passed on for the consumer to pay. Payments provider ACI Worldwide said its real-time payments technology is supporting BMO Financial Group’s efforts to …
Read More »Cardlytics Monthly Users Increase 85% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/10/19
Cardlytics Inc., a company that uses purchase data to help financial institutions manage their rewards programs with retail partners, reported its count of monthly active users reached 108.5 million in the first quarter, up 85% over the first quarter of 2018, as users from new clients JPMorgan Chase & Co. …
Read More »BofA Mulls Ending First Data JV and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/9/19
Bank of America Corp. is considering not renewing its merchant-acquiring joint venture with First Data Corp., known as Bank of America Merchant Services, when the contract ends in June 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. BAMS is the nation’s third-largest acquirer, having processed $840 billion in payment …
Read More »Account-Validation Requirement Coming to ACH Internet Payments
An automated clearing house network rule tightening security around Internet purchases, one of the ACH’s fastest-growing transaction categories, is set to take effect Jan. 1. The rule change, technically an amendment, affects so-called WEB debits, which cover a wide variety of ACH-funded Internet payments. It will require merchants as ACH …
Read More »Visa Completes Earthport Deal and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/8/19
Visa Inc. closed on its acquisition of Earthport, a provider of cross-border payments services. The card network says it expects the acquisition to allow it to access “the vast majority of the world’s banked population” to allow them to move money globally. Earthport earlier this year had been the object …
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