Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
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, …
April, 2020
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10 April
Some Small Businesses Are Seeing Higher Sales During Pandemic, ETA-Strawhecker Survey Finds
The screeching slowdown in consumer spending caused by efforts to stem the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has hit U.S. small businesses particularly hard, but there are some bright spots, according to the Electronic Transactions Association and merchant-acquiring research and consulting firm The Strawhecker Group. The survey of more than …
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10 April
Kount Releases A Weekly E-Commerce Purchase Tracker and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/10/20
Fraud prevention firm Kount Inc. released a weekly tracker of e-commerce purchase trends. In mid-March it showed that U.S. online sales of home office furniture and electronics increased 54%.Installment payments provider Klarna Bank AB said data from consumer use of its shopping app shows that e-commerce purchases are shifting to health and beauty and …
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10 April
COMMENTARY: Expect Lucrative Perks As Cobranded Travel Cards Try to Stem a Customer Exodus
The Covid-19 crisis is making cobranded travel credit cards less valuable. Demand for travel has taken a nosedive amid flight restrictions to international destinations, mandatory stay-at-home orders, and rising alarm over the coronavirus pandemic. Airlines have had to cancel flights and ground thousands of aircraft. Airline lounges and hotels have …
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9 April
After Strong First-Quarter Growth, the Coronavirus Takes the Steam Out of the ACH
Like other payment networks, the automated clearing house was going great guns until mid-March, but thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic it’s now in the midst of a slowdown. ACH governing body Nacha reported Thursday that total volume rose 7.1% year-over-year in the first quarter to 6.4 billion transactions, up by …
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9 April
An Analysis of Planned Changes to Network Rates Yields a Deep Impact for U.S. Merchants
Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. have postponed their planned U.S. interchange revisions until July, but when these changes do take effect the net impact on merchants will be deep, according to an analysis released by CMSPi, an Atlanta-based global merchant payments consultancy. Indeed, the new pricing planned by the two …
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9 April
Repay Adds Funding Integration and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/9/20
Payments-software provider Repay Holdings Corp. said it has integrated with lending-software vendor TurnKey Lender Inc., allowing financial institutions to fund loans at any time of day and accept loan payments by card or via the automated clearing house network through TurnKey’s platform or through mobile apps or other channels available to consumers.Upgrade …
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8 April
Square’s Dorsey Pledges $1 Billion for Covid-19 Relief; Mastercard Commits $250 Million for Small Businesses
Jack Dorsey, co-founder and chief executive of merchant processor and business-software provider Square Inc., on Tuesday pledged $1 billion for Covid-19 relief, and Mastercard Inc. committed $250 million over five years to help small businesses hit hard by the economic slowdown caused by the highly infectious disease. Those two announcements …
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8 April
Fraud Is Down a Tick, But Still Very Near Its All-Time High, Says the Latest AFP Report
The good news is that attempted and actual payments fraud declined last year. The bad news is it went down only a tick and remains very close to the all-time high, according to the latest report from the Association for Financial Professionals, a Bethesda, Md.-based trade group for companies across …
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8 April
No Delay for Fuel EMV Shift Yet and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/8/20
Visa Inc. reportedly denied a request to delay the Oct. 1 EMV liability shift for petroleum businesses, according to a ConvenienceStoreNews.com article, which says several fuel-retailing groups petitioned Visa for the delay. Visa, the Web site said, attributing it to NACS, an association for convenience store operators, is said to be monitoring the …