Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Amara’s Law, coined by Stanford computer scientist Roy Amara, says we tend to overestimate the impact of a new technology in the short run, but underestimate it in the long run. So it was with the Internet and mobile phones. So it’s likely to be with digital fiat currencies. Since …
January, 2021
- 5 January
Mobile Wallet Use up and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/5/21
In the week before and the week of Christmas, consumers markedly increased their use of mobile wallets, with mobile wallets loaded with a debit card increasing 79.2% from the same weeks a year ago, according to the Tracking Transaction Trends report from PSCU, a credit union service organization. Use of mobile …
- 4 January
Afterpay Average Ticket Increases 30% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/4/21
Buy now, pay later provider Afterpay Ltd. said users’ average ticket increased 30% in the fourth quarter compared to the same period in 2019.Affirm Inc. completed its acquisition of PayBright, a buy now, pay later provider in Canada.PayPal Holdings Inc. announced a check cashing feature for select Venmo app users. This enables them to have funds …
- 4 January
Digital Transactions’ 2020 Top 10 Countdown
Count down the 10 most popular stories published in the Digital Transactions News daily newsletter in 2020. #10 Processor Paya Will Go Public Via a So-Called SPAC Merger (Aug. 3) #9 Feeling Heat, Square Explains Its New Reserve Policy (June 23) #8 After Beating Wells Fargo Twice in Court, USAA …
December, 2020
- 31 December
Bitcoin at 4X Value at Year’s End and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/31/20
Bitcoin, the world’s largest and most well-known digital currency, is ending the year above $28,000, a quadrupling of its value since the start of 2020. Its market capitalization as of Dec. 30 is $536 billion, up from $133 billion at Jan. 2.RevoluGroup Canada Inc. has launched the RevoluEX Cryptocurrency Exchange that …
- 30 December
Current Begins Federal Stimulus Payments and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/30/21
Challenger bank Current said it is the first fintech in the country to receive the second round of federal stimulus payments and is making the funds available to members immediately. The stimulus bill, which provides for $600 payments to individuals, was approved by Congress Dec. 21 and signed by President Donald Trump …
- 29 December
Nacha Expands ACH Tool for Small Businesses and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/29/20
Nacha, the automated clearing house rules maker, and its Payments Innovation Alliance, a group of corporations, third-party processors, fintechs, and financial institutions, expanded the ACH Quick Start Tool, which helps smaller businesses learn about the ACH.Also, Nacha launched the Faster Payments Project Team to help organizations learn about faster payments and its capabilities.Starting Jan. …
- 28 December
E-Commerce Sales up 49% This Fall from 2019 and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 12/28/20
Retail sales, excluding the automotive and gasoline categories, grew 3% in the Oct. 11 to Dec. 24 period year-over-year, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse. E-commerce sales volume grew 49% in the same period compared to the year-ago period.Some Walmart stores in north Alabama stopped accepting credit cards when the stores’ Internet service failed owing …
- 24 December
COMMENTARY: How Merchants Are Methodically Moving Issuing Under Their Tent
Little by little and step by step, merchants have been taking tighter control over their payments businesses. No longer merely the endpoint in a cardholder’s lifecycle, merchants are leveraging fintech in ways not possible just a few short years ago. This is why we’re seeing the big fintech-centric acquirers like …
- 24 December
COMMENTARY: Political—Not Business—Priorities Will Roil Payments in 2021
The payments industry operates on a continuum of varying degrees of politicization, imposed and self-imposed. For maximizing value, less is better. Increased politicization will challenge the payments industry in 2021. U.S. regulators have already exercised enormous discretionary power over payments, sometimes lawlessly. Hatched by the Department of Justice in 2013, …
