Giant pharmacy chain Walgreen Co. is getting into the banking and debit card business with the launch of Scarlet. Announced Thursday, Scarlet is a Mastercard-branded debit card issued by MetaBank. InComm Payments provides the system for the account. Scarlet works like most bank accounts and is designed to help accountholders …
Read More »Subscription Fees Are up 15% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/2/21
U.S. consumers are spending $273 per month on subscription services on average, up 15% from the average in 2018, yet they estimate they are spending less, according to a poll from consulting firm West Monroe.Payments provider Nuvei Corp. completed its $250-million cash acquisition of SimplexCC Ltd., a cryptocurrency gateway that links exchanges, brokers, wallets, …
Read More »Mercari Picks Zip’s BNPL Option and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/1/21
Mercari, an online marketplace for second-hand goods, said consumers can use buy now, pay later services from Zip Co., formerly Quadpay, on its Web site.Buy now, pay later specialist Uplift Inc. said consumers who book with Sixthman, a music-festival organizer on cruise ships, can pay for their tickets in monthly installments. Sixthman is …
Read More »The Delta Variant’s Shadow Hangs Over a Promising Recovery by the Nation’s Restaurant Industry
The emergence earlier this year of a virulent new coronavirus variant “threatens to reverse the gains made in the first six months of the year” by the U.S. restaurant industry, according to data released Tuesday by the National Restaurant Association. The news comes as eateries have adopted contactless forms of …
Read More »Apple, Google Face Big App Store Change and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/31/21
Apple Inc.’s App Store and the Google Play store will have to open their payments services to competing providers for in-app purchases in South Korea if a recently passed bill becomes law, reported The Wall Street Journal, which also said the president’s party endorsed the legislation. Apple, in particular, has been the …
Read More »Visa Adopts Contactless Transit Incentive and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/30/21
Visa Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said they will donate a dime to New York Cares through the month of September, up to a limit of $250,000, for each tap riders perform with a Chase Visa contactless card on subways or buses operated by New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.VPay, …
Read More »A Settlement Will Allow App Store Developers to Offer Payment Options Beyond Apple
Apple Inc. will permit developers of applications for its App Store to tell customers by email that they can pay for products and services by means other than Apple’s own payment platform, according to a preliminary settlement announced Thursday. The settlement apparently will let developers skirt what are said to …
Read More »LaCore To Offer Sezzle to Merchants and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/26/21
Merchant services provider LaCore Payment Technologies said it is now offering Sezzle Inc.’s buy now, pay later service to its merchants. Sezzle is integrated into LaCore’s gateway.Google Pay’s expected revamp may be delayed because of staffing issues, reported tech site ArsTechnica.com. Several Google Pay employees have left amid uncertainty about the transition to the …
Read More »Card Spending Surges in the Wake of Covid-Induced Shifts in Consumer Behavior
Out of the gloom surrounding the U.S. economy since the onset of Covid-19 comes a report that consumer spending on credit and debit cards is not only robust, but also stronger than it was even two years ago. Dollar volume on payment cards in July was 21% higher than in …
Read More »Clover Adds Grubhub Integration and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/25/21
Fiserv Inc. announced an integration between its Clover point-of-sale technology and the business-management platform Grubhub in an effort aimed at helping independent restaurants manage and fulfill online orders.Payments provider Fattmerchant Inc. said its Stax platform is working with TimeSolv, a firm-management service for law practices, to manage billing and invoicing, and process payments, …
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