As 2019 draws to a close, the year’s super mergers in the payments-processing business may be creating super opportunities for startup service providers. That, at any rate, has been the experience so far of acquiring-industry veteran Trent Voigt and his new company, Paynetwork LLC, which does business as Paynetworx. The …
Read More »Big-Ticket Rejection and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/17/19
LexisNexis Risk Solutions released an analysis of transactions and cyberattacks between Nov. 27 and Dec. 3 that found the average shopping cart value rejected as high risk or fraudulent was $329, or 179% higher than the value of legitimate online transactions—$118—in the period.Juniper Research’s latest report forecasts that the installed base of contactless-enabled …
Read More »Bill Ready Going to Google and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/12/19
Departing PayPal Holdings Inc. chief operating officer Bill Ready in January will assume the role of head of commerce at Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit, TechCrunch reported. PayPal announced in June that he would leave the company at year’s end. Ready came to PayPal in 2013 as a result of the company’s $800-million …
Read More »Alleging Digital Wallets Are Not Prepaid Products, PayPal Sues the CFPB Over Its Prepaid Rule
PayPal Holdings Inc. on Wednesday sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleging the regulatory agency’s 8-month-old prepaid rule represents a “category error” and a violation of the First Amendment, and should be vacated by the court. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, charges …
Read More »New York Straphangers Give Contactless Payments a Boost
The New York City area’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday activated 96 contactless card readers in Manhattan’s Penn Station, one of the nation’s busiest transit hubs, in its quest to accept contactless payment cards and mobile-payment apps across its vast subway and bus system by the end of next year. …
Read More »Mastercard Starts Pilots in Australia to Test Its Vision for a Consumer-Controlled ID Model
Mastercard Inc. on Wednesday announced it has begun its first real-world pilots for a new digital-identity system the company says has the potential to dramatically simplify payments and other interactions between consumers and government and commercial entities. Two separate pilots for the new service, which relies on mobile devices, are …
Read More »BofA Adding Merchant-Related Information for Cardholders to Its Erica Digital Assistant
Bank of America Corp. next year will enhance Erica, its popular digital financial assistant powered by artificial intelligence, with two new features—one to make its credit and debit card holders aware of which merchants might be storing their card numbers, and another that will issue alerts about possible duplicate charges. …
Read More »Possible Widening of Desjardins Breach and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/11/19
Quebec-based Desjardins Group said the former employee suspected of orchestrating a massive data breach that affected 4.2 million members of the big credit-union federation also had access to the personal information of a further 1.8 million credit card holders who are not Desjardins members, the CBC reported.ACI Worldwide released the latest version …
Read More »Libra Put Stablecoins in the Spotlight. Now BitPay Announces Support for Three of Them
Facebook Inc.’s Libra cryptocurrency may be struggling with regulators globally, but that doesn’t mean blockchain processors aren’t moving forward with other stablecoins. Atlanta-based BitPay Inc. on Tuesday introduced payment acceptance and settlement services in a trio of stablecoins whose value is tied to the U.S. dollar: Circle Internet Financial Ltd.’s …
Read More »Payoneer’s Merchant-Services Buy and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/10/19
Payoneer Inc., a provider of cross-border payments for small businesses, announced it is moving into merchant services with its acquisition of optile GmbH, a Munich-based company whose technology eases payment acceptance. Terms were not announced.The Western Union Co. has added a feature to its mobile app that allows users to donate …
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