Friday , January 2, 2026

Issuing/Originating

Pulse Debit Study: Online And Contactless Usage Surges While Wallets Assert Themselves

The story of debit cards in the pandemic year of 2020 turns out to have several chapters—including higher average tickets, a sharp swing to card-not-present usage, a dramatic surge in contactless adoption, and higher mobile-wallet usage. Meanwhile, account-to-account transfers turned out to be the fastest-growing form of debit, though usage …

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A 4X Increase in Phishing Attack Costs and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/17/21

The overall costs of phishing attacks on businesses have nearly quadrupled since 2015, rising from average losses of $3.8 million per company in 2015 to $14.8 million in 2021, according to research from cybersecurity and compliance company Proofpoint Inc. and Ponemon Institute.Uplift Inc., a buy now, pay later provider specializing in travel, …

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Mastercard’s Magstripe Farewell and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/16/21

Mastercard Inc. said it will slowly phase out the requirement that its branded cards have a magnetic stripe in favor of the EMV chip. Beginning in 2024, in most markets, newly issued Mastercard credit and debit cards will not be required to bear the magstripe. By 2033, Mastercard said none of …

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WUBS Renames as Convera and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/13/21

Western Union Business Solutions (WUBS), formerly a unit of the Western Union group of companies, will rename itself Convera upon its recently announced $910-million acquisition by Goldfinch Partners LLC and The Baupost Group LLC. Patrick Gauthier, most recently head of Amazon Pay, has been announced as chief executive of Convera, which …

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Veem Introduces Two Short-Term Loan Options To Boost Cash Flow for Small Businesses

In response to small and mid-size businesses’ need for capital as the economy re-opens in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, payment-technology provider Veem Inc. on Thursday introduced two new short-term lending options as part of its Veem Capital offering. The first option, Pay Later, allows small and mid-size businesses …

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The DoJ Supports the Fed’s Debit-Routing Proposal, But Would Like to See it Toughened

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday lent its weight to a proposed rule from the Federal Reserve Board that would reinforce merchants’ choice of networks for e-commerce transactions arising from debit cards. At the same time, it suggested the rule could be made more stringent. Justice’s support for the …

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eBay’s Payments Payoff and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/12/21

EBay Inc. reported some 80% of its on-platform payments volume was processed through its managed-payments service by the end of the second quarter. More than 13 million sellers globally were using the platform.Payment card manufacturer CPI Card Group Inc. said consumers’ shift to contactless cards, which command a higher price than ordinary plastic, helped drive …

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Merchants Redouble Their Efforts to Push the Fed on Debit’s Routing And Pricing Rules

With a Federal Reserve deadline hitting Wednesday for comments on decade-old debit card regulations, large merchants are firing some last-minute salvos in hopes of influencing the Fed to make major revisions to rules governing transaction routing and pricing. “[M]ajor banks and networks continue to interfere with competition for debit business,” …

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Circle Preps for SPAC Move and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/9/21

Circle Internet Financial Inc., a provider of payments based on digital currencies, filed a Form S-4 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with its effort to go public via a $4.5-billion buyout by a special purpose acquisition corporation.Bill.com said KPMG Spark, an accounting service for small and medium-sized …

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COMMENTARY: How EMV Specifications Are Supporting Online Commerce

The increasing digitalization of global economies, along with the unprecedented growth in online commerce, means that consumers and businesses are demanding more from payments. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston notes that “consumers not only have higher expectations when it comes to online security, but they …

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Digital Transactions