Mobile Commerce

Merchant processor Payment Data Systems Inc. said its FiCentive prepaid card subsidiary will provide program management and processing and develop Web and mobile applications for University Fancards, which offers university-branded gift and reloadable prepaid cards. Speedpay Inc., Western Union’s bill-payment unit, has adopted a customer-guidance tool based on artificial intelligence …

Wire-transfer provider MoneyGram International Inc. once again is expanding to more markets. This time, the company announced Monday, consumers in Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are the latest to have access to the company’s online platform. MoneyGram’s online service is now available in 15 nations. In July, it expanded …

Payment-industry incumbents, particularly the global credit card networks and their allied banks and processors, can’t rest on their laurels lest fast-growing mobile and non-card payment systems in much of the world leave them in the dust. That was the conclusion of payments researchers Friday who spoke at the Mobile Payments …

Online-shopping site jClub Inc. said its customers can check out with a single click on mobile or desktop devices using the Google Pay button. Google Pay is a 3-year-old mobile-payment service from Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit. Facing growing concerns about privacy protections on its popular Venmo person-to-person payments service, executives …

Back-to-school shopping means big dollars for many merchants. In fact, the National Retail Federation predicts parents will spend $82.8 billion, and both online and brick-and-mortar retailers are hoping to get a piece of the action. Unfortunately, so are the fraudsters. This year’s back-to-school shopping, already in progress, is sure to …

Despite its detractors, the so-called gig economy that relies on freelance workers looks like it’s here to stay. And Lyft Inc., a leading ride-share provider that’s a major player in the gig economy, would like to see the payments industry evolve to meet the gig economy’s needs. Ashwin Raj, the …

Priority Technology Holdings Inc. said it purchased PPS Northeast, a former independent brand licensed office of Priority Payment Systems for an undisclosed amount. Payments provider CellPoint Mobile said its payment platform is now available to users of Runtriz’s hotel point-of-sale software for hotels and casinos. NACHA, the governing body for …

Best known as an online payment processor, Adyen N.V.’s point-of-sale processing volume in 2018’s first half more than doubled in a year, the Amsterdam-based firm reported Wednesday. In its first earnings report since its June initial public offering, Adyen, which has U.S. headquarters in San Francisco, reported processed volume of …

In response to Canada’s moves to introduce further regulation of its payments industry, the Washington, D.C.-based Electronic Transactions Association said this week it is “expanding” its advocacy effort into that country. So far, the ETA’s effort includes hiring a lobbyist to represent the interests of Canadian payments companies and U.S. …

U.S. consumers are apt to have more money—$485 on average—in their PayPal Holdings Inc. accounts than cash in their wallet, $196, finds the Future of Money Study from Logica Research. San Francisco-based Logica Research, formerly Koski Research Inc., also found that 58% of Americans have a PayPal account. A number of …