Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
So, how much will Covid-19 have affected payment card dollar and transaction volumes when the card networks and merchant processors report their first-quarter financials beginning in about a month? At this point, it’s way too early to tell. An early read might come Tuesday when American Express Co. is scheduled …
March, 2020
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16 March
No Safe Haven: Bitcoin And Other Cryptos Plunge Along With Equities in the Face of the Coronavirus
As stock markets swoon in the face of the novel coronavirus outbreak and its effects, prices for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are sliding as well, disproving at least for now the idea that cryptos can serve as a so-called safe haven for investors. Bitcoin, the leading digital currency, was trading at …
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16 March
Nacha Cancels 2020 Payments Event and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/16/20
Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments 2020 Conference has been canceled because of concerns related to the novel coronavirus. Nacha said it is trying to develop a free virtual event with select educational content. Next year’s conference is scheduled for April 25-28 in San Francisco.Dueling bills have been introduced in the Delaware Legislature that would …
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13 March
The ETA Grows Its Role in Canada to Fill a Void Left by ACT Canada’s Decision to Dissolve
The Electronic Transactions Association said Thursday it will take on a bigger role in Canada. The Washington, D.C.-based trade group, which has represented the interests of payments-technology and merchant-acquiring firms before the Canadian government for the past two years, will now also take on liaisons with the card networks and …
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13 March
Eye on Acquiring: Revel Starts Merchant Hardship Fund; SEAA Conference Moves to June
The unprecedented impact of dealing with the coronavirus outbreak encircling the globe has hit close to the payments industry. Several conferences have been postponed or canceled, and one vendor has set up a relief fund for merchants. Point-of-sale system maker Revel Systems Inc. created the Revel Relief Program, which can help …
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13 March
OTG Experience To Use Amazon Go Tech and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/13/20
Airport restaurant and retail operator OTG Experience LLC says it will be one of the first retailers to use Amazon.com Inc.’s “Just Walk Out” cashierless technology, the system that powers Amazon’s Amazon Go stores, when it opens a CIBO Express Gourmet Market next week in Terminal C of Newark Liberty International Airport.A technology …
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12 March
Suddenly, Ransomware Is Taking a Heavy Toll on State And Local Governments
As the plague of ransomware continues to roil digital payments and other industries, it turns out state and local governments are proving to be particularly vulnerable. In fact, ransomware attacks on school systems, police departments, city administrative offices, and other governmental agencies are rising fast. Last year, state and local …
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12 March
Eye on Covid-19: Payments Providers Hunker Down As an ATM Group Decries ‘The Scapegoating of Cash’
The electronic-payments industry is settling into a ride-it-out mode as panic selling resumed Thursday on Wall Street over the coronavirus, now deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened down 1,700 points, and most payments stocks went over the cliff with it. In late-morning …
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12 March
NAB Debuts New Compensation Program and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/12/20
Payments provider North American Bancard LLC launched two new compensation programs for sales agents, including a restructured bonus program and a portfolio buyout program that includes an opportunity for qualified sales agents to have a portion of their residuals purchased.Processor Wirecard AG is partnering with point-of-sale credit specialist Klarna AB to integrate all of …
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11 March
Short-Term Coronavirus Impacts Are Unlikely To Hurt Long-Term Payments Viability, Analysts Say
As consumers and businesses contend with the uncertainty spawned by the coronavirus outbreak, payments companies will feel the effects, perhaps more than they’ve already announced. Though neither of the two larger U.S. card networks—Mastercard Inc. and Visa Inc.—have updated their recent revisions to their financial guidance, some analysts suggest the impact …