News

January, 2022

• 24 January

  No Time to Relax: Data Compromises Reached An All-Time High in 2021

  

  Data-compromise incidents hit an all-time high in 2021, totaling 1,862, up 23% from the previous record high of 1,506 in 2017, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center’s Annual Data Breach Report. On a year-over-year basis, the number of the compromises increased 68% in 2021, compared to 2020. The number …
• 24 January

  A Digital Dollar Backer Applauds the Fed But Stresses a Need for Privacy Protections

  

  The Federal Reserve’s release last week of a discussion paper exploring a central bank digital currency for the United States has evoked interest from a group that emerged two years ago to help launch just such an initiative. The Digital Dollar Project on Friday applauded the Fed’s effort and underscored …
• 24 January

  XDC Network Issues Blockchain Stats and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/24/22

  

  Blockchain platform XDC Network, working with blockchain developer LeewayHertz, released the XDC Network Stats platform, a presentation of key statistics about the network’s performance.RevoluGroup Canada Inc., a technology provider for banking, mobile apps, and remittances, announced a private placement of up to 10 million units at 20 cents each to raise …
• 21 January

  Unit’s Application Development Environment Looks to Save Fintechs Time With New Apps

  

  Looking to help fintechs speed development of new banking applications, Unit, a banking-as-a-service platform, announced Thursday a pilot production environment that allows fintechs to instantly build and validate applications using real funds. The new product is expected to enable fintechs to build and test live bank accounts and issue virtual …
• 21 January

  The Fed’s Paper on a U.S. Digital Currency Offers Few Signs of How the Regulator Is Leaning

  

  The Federal Reserve Board released a paper Thursday afternoon on the question of a central bank digital currency for the United States, and even though the Fed would play a crucial role in any such venture, observers looking for hints on how the central bank is leaning on the issue …
• 21 January

  Pulse Volume Jumps 17.8% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/21/22

  

  Discover Financial Services reported a net income of $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter, a 37.6% increase from $799 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Net income for 2021 totaled $5.4 billion, a 391% increase from $1.1 billion in 2020. Discover said volume on its Pulse debit network was $64.8 …
• 20 January

  Shift4 Expands Its Sports-Stadium Portfolio to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

  

  Add Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena to Shift4 Payments Inc.’s growing list of sports and entertainment venues to which the company provides payment processing. T-Mobile Arena is home to the National Hockey League’s Las Vegas Golden Knights franchise and hosts other entertainment events on the Las Vegas strip.  Shift4 will process …
• 20 January

  The ACH Posts a Big Quarterly Gain As Same-Day, B2B, And Health-Care Payments Soar

  The nation’s automated clearing house network handled 7.5 billion transactions in the fourth quarter of 2021, up 6.1% over the same period in 2020, Nacha reported Thursday. The growth was driven largely by gains in health-care and business-to-business payments, as well as robust increases in same-day ACH, the network’s faster-payments …
• 20 January

  Mastercard Track Instant Pay Unveiled and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/20/22

  

  Mastercard Inc. launched Mastercard Track Instant Pay, a platform enabling instant payment of supplier invoices via virtual card transactions supported by machine learning. The service is available in the United States now, with plans to expand globally.Nuvei Corp. has been approved by the New York State Gaming Commission to process payments for …
• 19 January

  Eye on BNPL: Verifone And Affirm; Uplift and Southwest Airlines; Sezzle’s New Options

  

  Terminal maker Verifone Inc. expanded its buy now pay later options Tuesday through a partnership with Affirm Inc. The deal will enable merchants using Verifone terminals to automatically offer Affirm as a payment option online and in-store. Merchants will be able to offer Affirm’s full range of payment options, including …