Adoption of mobile-payment apps in the United States has been tepid, so the so-called “Pays”—Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay—have sought new features to spike consumer interest. The latest gambit comes from Samsung Pay, which on Thursday announced an integration that will allow U.S. users to send payments to …
Read More »C&H Merges with Mann and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/3/19
C&H Financial Services Inc. said it merged with Mann Merchant Processing Systems LLC to expand its East Coast operations and grow. The combined company will use the C&H brand. Terms were not disclosed.Merchant acquirer Elavon Inc., a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, acquired Gothenburg, Sweden-based payments provider Payius AB. Payius has been an …
Read More »A Top Libra Executive Rebuts a Report That Backers’ Support Is Wavering
A report Wednesday that at least some members of the consortium backing Facebook Inc.’s Libra cryptocurrency project—including Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc.—are having second thoughts has drawn fire from the top Facebook executive in charge of the project. “The tone of some of this reporting suggests angst, etc….I can tell …
Read More »Drury Revises Breach Dates and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/2/19
Drury Hotels Co., which in May disclosed a data breach involving reservations made through some third-party online booking sites, now says the breach involved transactions from Dec. 28, 2017, to June 2 of this year, about two-and-a-half months longer than the originally stated timeline. Drury said “unauthorized access” occurred on …
Read More »Mobile Payments Firm AeroPay Launches a Cash-Back Incentive
AeroPay, the mobile-payments service from Aero Payments LLC, debuted a 1% cash-back rewards program for its users. AeroPay, which uses a connection to the automated clearing house network for its transactions via Dwolla Inc., says consumers using its iOS or Android app can earn unlimited 1% cash-back rewards. The payout …
Read More »TSYS-Global Merger ‘Best of the Bunch’ and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/27/19
The recently completed acquisition of Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) by Global Payments Inc. is “the best of the bunch” among the three megamergers in the payment-processing industry this year, investment research firm Morningstar Inc. says in a new report. The Global-TSYS deal “has the most capacity to reduce costs …
Read More »The PCI Council Plans More Rule Flexibility As It Eyes a Major Revision of Its Flagship Standard
Recognizing there is no one-one-size-fits-all approach to data security, the PCI Security Standards Council continues to evolve its requirements toward a goal of greater flexibility for payments providers. The new approach comes as the Council contemplates a new version of its core security standard. Gathering in Vancouver, B.C., this week …
Read More »Fintech Plaid Notes Investments and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/16/19
Financial-technology provider Plaid Inc. disclosed that it has received “strategic investments” from both Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc.Digital payments and competition from nonbanks in payments may cost banks as much as 15% of their global payments revenue, or $280 billion, says Accenture in its “2019 Global Payments Survey.”Visa said it is working with insurance …
Read More »Five Years On, Is Apple Pay Ready To Bloom At Last?
Five years ago, Apple Inc. laid claim to offering one of the first smart phone-based mobile-payment services, and now some observers say Apple Pay, with an estimated 43% of iPhone owners using the service, may be poised to score a breakthrough. Apple Pay was announced with great fanfare Sept. 9, …
Read More »A Security Flaw Lets Hackers Control Traffic on Android Smart Phones, Researcher Says
Cyber threat intelligence provider Check Point Research disclosed this week what it says is a flaw in some Android smart phones that enables hackers to send bogus messages that trick users into entering malicious settings that could, among other things, route traffic through a proxy server controlled by the hacker. …
Read More »
