Mobile Wallets

Early Warning Services LLC said enrollments in its Zelle peer-to-peer payments network since early March are increasing at “more than double-digit rates above average” as stay-at-home users deploy the service to reimburse neighbors for groceries and canceled events and send money to friends and relatives who need cash. Some 837 financial institutions have …

A trend toward a near-total collapse in travel-and-entertainment spending helped drive down overall first-quarter card volume and discount revenue for American Express Co., the company reported Friday. “March was a very difficult month,” Stephen Squeri, AmEx’s chairman and chief executive, told stock analysts during a morning conference call. As with …

With consumers contending with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, rewards offered by the card networks could take on added importance. Blackhawk Network is counting on that, and has introduced a capability for mobile-phone users to add digital rewards to their Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay wallets. Working …

It’s well known that Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit wants to offer consumers checking accounts, though that service has yet to launch. But the search-engine giant also reportedly is developing a debit card that would work in concert with its Google Pay mobile-payments service, according to news reports from Silicon Valley. …

Nearly empty commercial airline flights mean a lot less tickets being purchased. This result of efforts to tamp down the Covid-19 infection packs a wallop for the travel industry. But, the time can be put to use taking care of formerly delayed payment projects and preparing for the resumption of …

Payments provider FreedomPay has added support for Google Pay, enabling Google Pay users to make e-commerce payments in Android apps and in Web browsers. This can be done on a merchant’s Web site regardless of browser or operating system or within an Android app, with FreedomPay securely integrating to the Google Payments …

The Internal Revenue Service has begun sending $1,200 stimulus payments to individuals as provided for under the CARES Act. Payments are first going to about 60 million persons for whom the IRS has bank-account information, making direct deposit possible. Others will receive checks. The process is expected to take until April 20, …

Supermarket giant Publix said it is installing contactless-payment capability in all 1,242 of its stores in an effort expected to be completed by Saturday. The move will allow customers with mobile devices to pay via Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay. The chain also said it is beefing up efforts to …

In its second major data breach in two years, hotel giant Marriott International Inc. disclosed a “property system incident” affecting personal information on 5.2 million guests. Fraudsters apparently gained access to Marriott’s systems in mid-January using the login credentials of two employees at a franchised property. Marriott, which said it discovered the …

With the coronavirus pandemic freezing economic activity in the U.S. and many other countries, Visa Inc. reported in a regulatory filing that U.S. credit card payment volume was down 7% year-over-year for the March 1-28 period while debit payments were down 1%. Cross-border volume on a constant-dollar basis was off 19%. …