News

June, 2019

• 19 June

  Chip Cards Make Gains, but the U.S. Still Lags Most of the World in EMV Adoption

  EMV chip card payments made substantial gains in the U.S. last year, but the nation still lags most other regions in EMV penetration, according to new figures from payment card standards body EMVCo. Some 53.5% of general-purpose U.S. card-present transactions in 2018 were so-called chip-on-chip, meaning both the point-of-sale terminal …
• 19 June

  Commercial Bank of California’s Big ISO Ambitions

  

  Commercial Bank of California’s announcement Tuesday that Group ISO Inc. joined its wholesale independent sales organization program signals greater ambitions for the Irvine, Calif.-based bank. Group ISO will use CBC’s BIN sponsorship, a term for bank identification numbers, which is required for acquirers to send and receive transactions from card …
• 19 June

  Regulators Balk at Facebook’s Libra and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/19/19

  

  The Facebook-led announcement of the Libra cryptocurrency is evoking blowback both in the United States and overseas. House Financial Services Committee chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) called for Facebook to halt the planned launch of Libra until Congress has had a chance to hold hearings on the cryptocurrency. Elsewhere, the governor …
• 18 June

  Facebook And 27 Other Companies Announce Libra, a New Blockchain-Backed Crypto Coin

  

  An association of major payments and technology companies will launch a blockchain-based digital currency called Libra some time in the first half of next year, according to an official announcement on Tuesday. The new initiative, some details about which have leaked in recent days, has the backing of Facebook Inc. …
• 18 June

  Can MoneyGram And Ripple, ‘Two Wounded Ducks,’ Take Flight With Their New Pact?

  

  Its long-term prospects for success are unclear, but the investment and cross-border payments partnership struggling wire-transfer provider MoneyGram International Inc. announced late Monday with blockchain-services developer Ripple Labs Inc. certainly produced a short-term bang by doubling the value of MoneyGram’s beaten-down stock. As part of the deal, Ripple invested $30 …
• 18 June

  Celero Commerce’s Two Acquisitions and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/18/19

  

  Celero Commerce announced two acquisitions, those of Elmhurst Financial Services and Tandem Innovative Payment Solutions. Following the deals—financial terms were not disclosed for either—Celero will have approximately 25,000 merchants and process approximately $10 billion in annual payment volume. Payment Alliance International said it acquired ISA-ECash, an ATM operator and developer …
• 17 June

  As Facebook’s Libra Provokes A Slew of Questions, An Expert Struggles With the Coin’s ‘Justification’

  

  Facebook Inc. is expected to release details this week, perhaps as early as Tuesday, on its Libra cryptocurrency initiative, but for now what’s known about the project has at least some experts shaking their heads. “Why a cryptocurrency, and why Facebook?” asks Tim Sloane, who follows digital currencies as vice …
• 17 June

  No Data Lost in Weekend Target POS Glitches and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 6/17/19

  

  Target Corp. was hit by two point-of-sale glitches this past weekend. On Sunday afternoon the retailer was unable to process certain card transactions at some of its 1,800 stores for about 90 minutes due to an issue at a data center of its payment-services vendor, NCR Corp., Reuters reported. Sunday’s …
• 14 June

  Circle Will Sunset Its Circle Pay App To Concentrate on Cryptocurrency Projects

  

  Circle Internet Financial Ltd. will cease supporting its 5-year-old Circle Pay mobile app beginning next month in order to concentrate on its blockchain and cryptocurrency ventures. Circle Pay is a no-fee peer-to-peer payments app that enables users to send money using the recipient’s phone number or email address. The service …
• 14 June

  A Core Group of Consumers Continues To Prefer Cash, Researcher Finds

  

  The debut of cashless stores has led to pushback by several cities, the state of New Jersey, and a member of Congress concerned that card or mobile-payments-only options will leave cash-dependent consumers unable to shop in such stores. Now, new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta concludes that …