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January, 2019

• 16 January

  Fiserv Stuns the Industry With a Massive All-Stock Acquisition of First Data

  

  In a stunning announcement that surprised many observers, Fiserv Inc. said Wednesday morning it has struck a deal to acquire First Data Corp. with what the parties say will be the biggest ever such transaction in the payments and financial-technology businesses. The all-stock deal, expected to close in the third …

December, 2018

• 18 December

  Active Role for Fed in Real-Time Payments Gets Support from Big Companies and Small Banks

  

  Big banks generally aren’t too thrilled about the Federal Reserve taking a direct operational role in a U.S. real-time payment system, but smaller banks and credit unions as well as some big companies support the idea. The Fed’s two-month comment period on its proposed Real Time Gross Settlement service closed …
• 4 December

  Consumers Have No Reservations About Using P2P Payments To Give Cash During the Holidays

  

  The surge in popularity for peer-to-peer payments is making itself felt in the realm of holiday gifting, helping to erode a longstanding cultural taboo against giving cash during the annual gift-giving season. Gift transactions rose 47.2% in December 2017 over the monthly average for the previous August through October, according …

November, 2018

• 26 November

  A Fraud Spike at Venmo Vexed PayPal Just As the Company Sought Venmo Revenue

  

  PayPal Holdings Inc. has been trying to make money off of its highly popular but free peer-to-peer payments service, Venmo, but over the weekend a report emerged indicating a surge in fraud could have complicated that effort. Venmo sustained a transaction loss rate of 0.40% in March, up from 0.25% …
• 7 November

  Pay-at-the-Table Comes to a Restaurant Group With Ingenico Devices

  

  A restaurant franchiser is deploying Ingenico Group point-of-sale terminals as part of a migration to pay-at-the-table payment acceptance at its TGI Friday’s and Zinburger Wine and Burger Bar locations, Ingenico announced Wednesday. The deal ultimately will see pay-at-the-table service, where the server brings the POS terminal to diners at their …

October, 2018

• 16 October

  What a Difference a Year Makes: Consumer Sentiment Shifts Substantially Toward Tech Firms

  

  With technology companies increasingly eyeing financial services, a survey from Brookfield, Wis.-based bank processor Fiserv Inc. indicates 55% of consumers feel comfortable using a company like Apple Inc. or Alphabet Inc.’s Google to pay bills, up from 40% in 2017. Thirty-nine percent would take out a loan from a tech-company service, …

September, 2018

• 28 September

  Behind the ETA’s Self-Regulation Program for ISOs, Acquirers, and Payment Facilitators

  The word “regulation” generates little enthusiasm in the merchant-acquiring industry, but it’s more palatable when “self” is the operative adjective rather than “government.” Thus, the Electronic Transactions Association is pushing its new Self-Regulation Program for acquirers, independent sales organizations, and payment facilitators. Launched early this month, the voluntary program requires …
• 25 September

  Visa Begins a U.S. Contactless Payments Push Again. This Time the POS Hardware Is in Place

  

  It’s another go-around for contactless payments as Visa Inc. prepares an extensive campaign involving issuers, merchants, and consumers to push use of the payment method. The card brand on Tuesday debuted an infographic on contactless payments from across the globe, and touted the preparedness of the U.S. market for the …
• 21 September

  How iZettle Could Boost PayPal’s Long-Held Strategy to Embrace the Physical Point of Sale

  

  For years, PayPal Holdings Inc. has worked to expand its reach to physical merchants, and now, with the closing on Thursday of its $2.2 billion acquisition of Stockholm-based iZettle AB, the digital-payments company is taking a significant step in achieving that ambition. At a stroke, the acquisition brings to PayPal …
• 17 September

  As Transaction Volume Grows, NACHA Smooths out the Road for Same-Day ACH

  

  With volume building for same-day processing of automated clearing house items, the regulatory body for the extensive ACH network announced Monday a trio of enhancements aimed at, among other things, raising the dollar limit on the faster transfers and making credit funds available faster during the processing day. The changes, …