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The Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) Alliance, a non-profit with more than 150 members in banking, payments, technology, and other industries, on Tuesday published its first standard for a better system of online authentication than the common but vulnerable user name and password. “Today, we celebrate an achievement that will define …
Read More »Digital River’s Stock Craters on Fears of the Company Losing Microsoft’s Online Store
Gateway and e-commerce services provider Digital River Inc. on Monday joined some other payments companies that have experienced the wrath, or panic, of investors on news that their relationship with their largest customer was threatened. Shares of Minnetonka, Minn.-based Digital River plunged 22.7%, falling $5.80 to close at $19.71, after …
Read More »Mobile Commerce Soars As Consumers Begin Their Holiday Shopping
Consumers wielding smart phones and tablets put their PayPal accounts to work over the just-passed holiday-shopping weekend. PayPal, a unit of eBay Inc. until its anticipated spinoff in 2015, says its global mobile-payments volume increased 62% on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, over the same day in 2013. …
Read More »Bitcoin Acceptance: Growing Fast, but Still a Niche for Merchant Acquirers
Once perceived as a payment method for drug dealers and shady merchants craving anonymity, the Bitcoin virtual currency is now accepted at approximately 75,000 merchants worldwide, and their numbers are growing fast, according to a new report by First Annapolis Consulting Inc. Even so, it will be a while before …
Read More »Cyber Monday Online Sales up Nearly 9% As Apple Continues to Outpace Android
Well into the annual Cyber Monday shopping frenzy, online sales are up nearly 9% compared to last year, while mobile devices are driving more traffic and sales, continuing a trend established on Thanksgiving and on Black Friday. That’s according to IBM Corp.’s Digital Analytics service, which is reporting periodically on …
Read More »Online Sales Jump on Black Friday And Thanksgiving, With Apple Far Ahead of Android
With Black Friday results nearly in the books, the holiday-shopping season has officially started, though some observers argue it really began this year on Thanksgiving day itself with a flurry of mobile commerce. Much of that commerce is being driven by users of Apple Inc. devices. Controlling by far the …
Read More »E-Commerce Spending for November Up 11% Over 2013, comScore Reports
Electronic-commerce spending from work and home desktop computers from Nov 1-23 hit $17.5 billion, up 11% from $15.8 billion in the same period a year earlier, Internet metrics firm comScore Inc. reported Tuesday. Most e-commerce spending is charged to credit and debit payment cards, so the early results for the …
Read More »Coinbase Adds Tip Mechanism for Bitcoin Micropayments
Bitcoin wallet provider Coinbase has launched a “tip” button to enable Coinbase users to make micropayments to Web-site owners. San Francisco-based Coinbase says the button can be used to make one-click payments. The default amount is 300 bits, or about 10 cents this week. Senders can choose other amounts, …
Read More »Digital Wallets Are Pushing up Conversions, Making Them a Prime Target for Acquirers And Gateways
Digital wallets, especially when used for mobile commerce, are gaining increasing favor among consumers, finds a report from the Adobe Digital Index, a research unit of Adobe Systems Inc., which carries implications for acquirers and payment gateways. In a survey of 400 U.S. consumers, Adobe found that the number …
Read More »Mobile Commerce To Peak On Thanksgiving: Adobe
Consumers are expected to use their smart phones and tablets to do more than check prices this holiday season. More of them expect to make mobile-commerce purchases—forecasted to reach $1.6 billion on Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday— finds the Adobe Digital Index, a research service from Adobe …
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