News

October, 2017

• 9 October

  Radial Purchased by bpost and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/9/17

  

  Elan Financial Services, a processing unit of U.S. Bank, announced it has worked with Ondot Systems to allow two-way communications on the My Mobile Money app. The app now allows issuers to communicate directly with cardholders to confirm debit card transactions. Belgian postal operator bpost has acquired Radial, a U.S. e-commerce …
• 9 October

  A Canadian Startup Mates Contactless With Cryptocurrency in a Fledgling Wallet

  

  With Bitcoin trading at $4,300 and Ethereum at $300, most of the attention in the payments world has been on the cryptocurrencies’ value as an investment rather than as a payment method. Now, a year-old Toronto-based startup hopes to change that by enabling contactless point-of-sale transactions using Ether, the Ethereum …
• 6 October

  Digital Wallets Are Not Yet Ready for Prime Time, But Are Getting Closer, a Report Says

  

  Though digital-wallet adoption among consumers may have paused this year, merchants continue to prep for the electronic payment, according to “The Next Phase of Digital Wallet Adoption,” a report commissioned by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Conducted by Forrester Consulting, a unit of Forrester Research Inc., the report found the fraction …
• 6 October

  Tech Buzzwords Don’t Cut It as Skeptical Investors Assess Payment Startups

  

  Moderating a panel of three investment executives who put money into startup payments firms and other financial-technology companies, Frank Young, senior vice president of innovation at merchant processor Global Payments Inc., noticed well into the Strategic Leadership Forum session Thursday that no one had mentioned artificial intelligence, machine learning, the …
• 6 October

  Sheetz Moves Ahead on EMV Upgrades and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/6/17

  

  Convenience-store chain Sheetz Inc. announced it is upgrading the forecourts of its more than 500 locations with EMV acceptance at the pump. The new equipment from Gilbarco Veeder-Root was jointly developed with VeriFone Systems Inc. In addition to EMV acceptance, the technology supports mobile wallets, encryption, barcode scanning, and contactless …
• 5 October

  What Might It Take for the EMV Holdouts To Join the Chip-Card Fold?

  

  The number of U.S. merchants that accept EMV chip cards at the point of sale is increasing rapidly, according to recent figures from Visa Inc.,  but it’s going to take some work by merchant acquirers and payment card networks to convince the holdouts to convert. Executives from two of those …
• 5 October

  Stack’s Contactless Digital Currency Plan and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/5/17

  

  Mastercard Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. announced they have extended to Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East an agreement first reached last year for the U.S. market that clarifies Mastercard as an equal payment option in the PayPal wallet and gives PayPal access to Mastercard’s tokenization …
• 4 October

  NCR’s ‘Ring Up’ POS Service Targets the High-Margin Micromerchants

  

  NCR Corp. is entering the fray to get payment-processing deals with micromerchants. The Duluth, Ga.-based point-of-sale technology company this week launched Ring Up by NCR Silver, a POS service specifically designed for merchants with less than $100,000 in annual revenue. The service uses a magnetic stripe and EMV-compatible Bluetooth reader …
• 4 October

  As Out-of-Network ATM Fees Climb to an All-Time High, Cash Gets More Expensive

  

  In the age of electronic payments, cash is getting more and more expensive—even when accessed via electronic means. Nationwide, it costs consumers $4.69 to withdraw money from a so-called out-of-network ATM. That’s up 2.6% from a year ago, according to the latest data from Bankrate Inc., a New York City-based …
• 4 October

  Elavon Launches Scoop and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/4/17

  

  Merchant processor Worldpay participated in a funding round for machine-learning startup FeatureSpace and agreed to deploy the company’s technology for fraud prevention. Worldpay, which this summer agreed to be acquired by rival processor Vantiv Inc., did not disclose the amount of its investment. Merchant processor Elavon introduced Scoop, a program …