Wednesday , March 4, 2026

Law and Regulation

Visa Ends Plaid Deal and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/13/21

Visa Inc. has dropped its year-old, $5.3-billion bid for the data network Plaid Inc. in the wake of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The DoJ feared Visa could use Plaid’s links to financial institutions to stifle competition in the debit market, a contention Visa denied.The big drugstore chain Walgreen …

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SoFi Makes a Move to Go Public and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/8/21

Social Finance Inc. said it will use the special purpose acquisition tool to become a publicly traded company. Known as SoFi, the company will merge with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. V, a SPAC, to enter the public market. SoFi’s equity value is pegged at $8.65 billion in the deal. SoFi, which …

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NCR Acquires Freshop and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/7/21

NCR Corp. said it acquired Freshop, a grocery e-commerce services provider. Terms were not disclosed. NCR estimates that buy online, pick up in store shopping will increase 25% per year through 2025.Payment Alliance International said it acquired the ATM portfolio of B & B Music & Video, consisting of 580 company-owned and …

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A Last-Minute Presidential Ban on China-Based Payment Apps Puzzles Payments Experts

An executive order by President Donald Trump banning a pair of major Chinese payments apps comes in the waning days of his administration and may leave more questions than it answers, observers say. The order, issued Tuesday, prohibits transactions on eight China-based apps, including the hugely popular Alipay and WeChat …

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PayPal Wins Its Lawsuit Against the CFPB, But the Legal Wrangling Is Far From Over

PayPal Holdings Inc. may have prevailed in its lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over the CFPB’s rules pertaining to prepaid cards and digital wallets, but the overarching legal battle is likely to continue. The ruling, which was handed down Dec. 30 by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon and …

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Afterpay Average Ticket Increases 30% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/4/21

Buy now, pay later provider Afterpay Ltd. said users’ average ticket increased 30% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2019.Affirm Inc. completed its acquisition of PayBright, a buy now, pay later provider in Canada.PayPal Holdings Inc. announced a check cashing feature for select Venmo app users. This enables them to have funds …

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Digital Transactions’ 2020 Top 10 Countdown

Count down the 10 most popular stories published in the Digital Transactions News daily newsletter in 2020. #10 Processor Paya Will Go Public Via a So-Called SPAC Merger (Aug. 3) #9 Feeling Heat, Square Explains Its New Reserve Policy (June 23) #8 After Beating Wells Fargo Twice in Court, USAA …

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COMMENTARY: How Merchants Are Methodically Moving Issuing Under Their Tent

Little by little and step by step, merchants have been taking tighter control over their payments businesses. No longer merely the endpoint in a cardholder’s lifecycle, merchants are leveraging fintech in ways not possible just a few short years ago. This is why we’re seeing the big fintech-centric acquirers like …

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COMMENTARY: Political—Not Business—Priorities Will Roil Payments in 2021

The payments industry operates on a continuum of varying degrees of politicization, imposed and self-imposed. For maximizing value, less is better. Increased politicization will challenge the payments industry in 2021. U.S. regulators have already exercised enormous discretionary power over payments, sometimes lawlessly. Hatched by the Department of Justice in 2013, …

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MoneyGram To Monitor SEC’s Ripple Lawsuit and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/24/20

MoneyGram International Inc. said it is will “continue to monitor for any potential impact” from a recent lawsuit against cryptocurrency payments firm Ripple Labs and two top executives by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. MoneyGram has used Ripple’s foreign exchange blockchain since June 2019 to trade in four currencies, though the company …

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