The middle of a pandemic is an intriguing time to tap the public markets, to say the least, but observers say there could be some upside ultimately for Shift4 Payments LLC, which on Friday filed its expected registration statement for an initial public offering. The Allentown, Pa.-based payments-technology provider, which …
Read More »Recovery in Card Usage Gathers Steam Among Credit-Union Members
Even though credit card spending is still depressed as a result of the Covid-19 economic downturn, payment card volume trends have now been improving for a month or more, according to new data from credit-union service organization PSCU. St. Petersburg, Fla.-based PSCU reported Monday that overall credit card spending by …
Read More »27% of Consumers Late on a Bill and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/18/20
Twenty-seven percent of U.S. consumers are past due on an at least one bill and nearly 50% will need a year to catch up on bills because of the Covid-19 pandemic, finds a study from YouGov and ACI Worldwide Inc. Of the nearly 1,400 surveyed, 81% said their mortgages and 78% said …
Read More »Mastercard Says New Data Show Spending Headed Toward ‘Normalization Phase’
New network data from Mastercard Inc. show U.S. switched volume is off 6% year-over-year for the week ending May 7 compared with a 26% decline in the week ending April 30. Mastercard on Thursday released two more weeks of network data, for the weeks ending May 7 and April 28, …
Read More »In the Time of Covid-19, Risk And Underwriting Practices Must Adapt, Experts Say
Payments providers and acquirers are having to quickly adjust to evolving risk practices as chargeback volume and return rates change during the nationwide Covid-19 containment. That’s important because the Federal Trade Commission, in particular, is using these two metrics as potential indicators of misdeeds, advised panelists Wednesday in the “Regulatory …
Read More »As Shut-in Consumers Turn to E-Commerce, Visa Boosts Support for Key Online Technologies
With the world rushing to their phones, tablets, and PCs to buy what they need and want at a time when most physical stores are closed, the payment networks are maneuvering to smooth out online transactions. This includes chucking clunky checkouts and opening the way for transactions to go ahead …
Read More »Get Ready for the ‘Global Reset’ in Payments Spurred by Covid-19
The world’s response to Covid-19 already has accelerated trends underway in the payments business, and pandemic-spurred innovations will continue after the contagion eases, according to three senior industry executives. “The impacts of Covid-19 represent a true global reset of the entire market, not just our payments market,” said Philip McHugh, …
Read More »40% of Consumers Pledge To Shop Online More and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 5/13/20
Amid stay-at-home and social-distancing orders, 40% of consumers say they will shop online more in the future than in-store, while 45% are using a mobile wallet and 16% are using paper currency less, according to a survey of 1,030 consumers by Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS). Some 31% will use …
Read More »Eye on Merchants: Debit Spending Increases And Clover Adds Online Ordering
The Covid-19 impact continues to make itself known in the payments arena. Consumers are increasingly favoring debit cards, especially now that many have received $1,200 stimulus payments. And merchants using the Clover point-of-sale system now have access to online ordering on the platform. Consumers increased their debit card spending 6.6% …
Read More »Square’s POS Reputation May Aid Its New Online Checkout Button
Square Inc.’s new online checkout button—a product called Square Online Checkout—likely will get a boost in adoption from the company’s nearly 10-year history of providing payments technology for point-of-sale merchants. The new service enables Square merchants to place a buy button on Web sites and anywhere a link can be shared, …
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