News

May, 2017

• 1 May

  Why the Secret Sauce Isn’t So Secret Any More

  

  With the rise of APIs and the race for consumer loyalty, payments players are under pressure to innovate as never before. The result? A new openness to outside developers. If anything in the payments business can be said to approximate a company’s crown jewels, it’s the code that controls, uniquely …

April, 2017

• 28 April

  Apple P2P Payments Rumors Surface Again and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Apple Inc. is once again talking to payments-industry players about launching a person-to-person payment service, according to a report on Recode.net, which cited “multiple sources familiar with the talks.” The sources say the service would allow iPhone users to send money to each other. Recode also reports Apple is talking to …
• 27 April

  Financial Institutions Still Looking for Legal Certainty as the Cannabis Industry Grows

  

  Whatever their personal feelings are about marijuana usage, the growth of the legal cannabis industry in many states will force bankers and payments executives to examine the business prospects of serving that industry, according to an executive with a regional automated clearing house association. While marijuana remains illegal under federal …
• 27 April

  Dwolla’s Tokenized ACH Move and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Opponents and proponents of repealing debit card interchange controls known as the Durbin Amendment prepared for a hearing on the Financial CHOICE Act Thursday with dueling press releases. The National Retail Federation, as reported earlier this week by Digital Transactions News, led a meeting of retailers interested in keeping the …
• 27 April

  How the EMV-Fueled Shift of Fraud Online Is Generating Headwinds for Airlines

  

  Merchants and card issuers have been hearing for several years that the advent of EMV chip cards at the point of sale in the United States would drive fraud into card-not-present channels, and now evidence is emerging that this is happening with a vengeance, even with companies like airlines that …
• 27 April

  Opportunities Expand for Airlines To Adopt Mobile Payments, But Challenges Persist

  

  Mobile payments are on the radar for many airline executives. Fully 72% of North American airline executives responsible for revenue, finance, payments, and commerce, said the increase in customers using mobile payments and mobile banking is a factor in deploying digital wallets and alternative-payment methods, finds a new survey from …
• 26 April

  Vantiv Buys Paymetric and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) reported its revenues grew 60.2% year-over-year in the first quarter, to $1.2 billion from $739.4 million. Net income attributable to common shareholders was $105.9 million, up 16.8% from $90.6 million. For 2017, the company is raising its total revenue and net revenue guidance by …
• 26 April

  PayPal Tops 203 Million Consumer Accounts As Partnerships Begin To Pay Off

  

  Pay with Venmo, a fledgling merchant-payments service from PayPal Holdings Inc., is advancing to a broader testing stage with merchants, PayPal chief executive Dan Schulman said during a conference call with analysts to discuss the company’s first-quarter results Wednesday. Announced in 2016, One Touch is PayPal’s rapidly growing checkout service …
• 25 April

  Retailers Lobby To Save the Durbin Amendment, but the Battle May Already Be Won

  

  Retailers organized by the National Retail Federation and the Merchants Payments Coalition are scheduled to descend on Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to urge Congress to preserve the Durbin Amendment within the ever-controversial Dodd-Frank Act. One close observer of the political and banking scenes, however, believes the amendment will survive despite …
• 25 April

  FIS And TCH Prep a Real-Time Payments Incubator for Banks And Credit Unions

  

  As the U.S. payments industry prepares to adopt real-time payments, supporters are readying their services. The latest entry is the duo of Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) and The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC, which announced Tuesday an incubator in which banks and credit unions can take their first …