Fraud & Security

Block Inc. reached an agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau early Thursday under which it will pay up to $175 million in restitution for what the CFPB claims were sloppy and misleading fraud-prevention practices used by Block’s Cash App. Under the terms of the agreement, Cash App has agreed …

Some consumers better hope Santa Claus doesn’t read the latest fraud report from Socure, a fraud-prevention and authentication provider. It found 13% of U.S. consumers committed first-party fraud during the 2024 holiday-shopping season. Often called friendly fraud, first-party fraud occurs when a consumer exploits return and refund policies for financial …

Lightspeed Commerc Inc. launched Lightspeed Scanner, a service that lets sales associates process customers’ card transactions on an iPhone. MagTek said it is working with developer Vault to support Magtek’s DynaFlex II Go technology for mobile point-of-sale applications. Identity-verification specialist AU10TIX said its technology prevented an estimated $7.5 billion in fraud last year worldwide. …

Magtek launched its Magensa Cloud Service eCommerce line of software, which it developed with PAAY, a provider of technology that authenticates consumer transactions. Payroc said it has combined its payment-processing capabilities with electric-vehicle chargers from EVMode and payment readers from UIC to offer a new EV charging platform. HTeaO, an iced-tea franchise, …

A state senator in Oklahoma has introduced the Bitcoin Freedom Act, a bill that would legalize payroll and vendor transactions in Bitcoin in that state. The move follows the state’s passage last May of a Bitcoin Rights bill. FV Bank, a digital financial institution, has expanded its stablecoin offerings with an integration …

The Accredited Standards Committee X9 Inc. has published a standard, “QR Code Protection Using Cryptographic Solutions, X9.148,” laying out how to create secure QR codes. Nuvei Corp. announced it will provide payments processing in a partnership with GIG, a technology company specializing in the iGaming business. Paysafe Ltd. has won approval from the …

The outlook for payments in 2025 will be rife with open finance, instant payments, multi-rail payments, interchange questions, and the increasing use of artificial intelligence, observers suggest. The top three payments trends next year will be open finance, instant payments adoption, and point-of-sale innovations, says Capgemini Research Institute in its …

Fiserv Inc. is looking to beef up its capabilities in embedded payments with an agreement to acquire Payfare Inc., a Toronto-based company, for $201.5 million Canadian, or approximately $139 million in U.S. currency. The deal, which was announced early Monday and is subject to shareholder approval, comes as processors look …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau early Friday said it has sued Early Warning Services LLC as well as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, alleging the Zelle person-to-person payments network failed to protect consumers against fraud. The banks are three of the seven financial institutions that own Early …

The city of El Monte, Calif., has extended its agreement with GiveCard, a prepaid debit card platform, to manage the city’s Guaranteed Income pilot program, which embraces 125 low-income participants. Togetherwork, a payments provider specializing in pet-care businesses, has acquired Petexec, a software provider for the same market. Terms were not …