News

July, 2016

• 25 July

  Visa’s Scharf Feels No Love for the ACH, But Is His Sentiment Based on the Facts?

  

  Visa Inc.’s disdain for the automated clearing house as a competing payments network has been a given for years, but never did it come into focus more than it did last week when the giant card network announced its wide-ranging agreement with PayPal Holdings Inc. The deal smoothed over a …
• 25 July

  Meta Financial Doubles Financial Metric and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Processor Vantiv Inc. launched the One Network Experience service for software developers. Dubbed O.N.E., the service offers a suite of integration tools, personalized help, and access to an online developer community. • Meta Financial Group Inc. said Meta Payment Systems, a division of MetaBank, a major prepaid card issuer, …
• 22 July

  Making up for Lost Time, the U.S. Rockets to No. 1 Chip Card Market for Visa

  

  The United States may have been late to the EMV party, but U.S. credit and debit card issuers pushing out EMV chip cards have helped make the country the number-one market for EMV plastic, according to the latest figures from Visa Inc. As of June 30, Visa chip cards totaled …
• 22 July

  MasterCard Eyeing China and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • MasterCard Inc. is mulling an application to become a licensed payment service provider in China, a massive payments market dominated by state-owned China UnionPay, according to Reuters. • agreement with Visa Inc. that includes promotion of Visa cards and a new point-of-sale thrust for PayPal. Visa was trading at …
• 21 July

  In the Face of the National ‘Pays,’ Some Small Institutions Hedge Their Bets

  

  Few observers are surprised big banks like Capital One Financial Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Wells Fargo & Co. are getting into the mobile-wallet market, but what about smaller financial institutions like credit unions and community banks? While some might figure the small players will fall into the arms …
• 21 July

  MasterCard to Buy U.K. ACH and Faster-Payments Operator VocaLink for $920 Million

  

  Confirming months of speculation, MasterCard Inc. announced Thursday that it has a definitive deal to acquire VocaLink Holdings Ltd., operator of the United Kingdom’s automated clearing house and faster-payments systems, for £700 million, or approximately $920 million, in cash. London-based VocaLink operates BACS, the U.K.’s ACH network, as well as the …
• 21 July

  Eye on Earnings: Visa Europe Acquisition Crimps Visa Inc.’s Profit; PayPal Volumes Grow

  Visa Inc.’s combined U.S. credit and debit card purchase volume grew nearly 10% in the quarter ending June 30, but the payment network’s net income plunged 76% mainly because of its costs to acquire Visa Europe. PayPal Holdings Inc., meanwhile, saw its volumes and bottom line increase in the second …
• 21 July

  A Sweeping Deal With Visa Allows PayPal To Make Another Run at the Physical POS

  

  For years, PayPal Holdings Inc. has struggled to bring its popular online payment product to the physical point of sale, and now a deal announced Thursday with Visa Inc. may help the company finally realize that ambition. The sweeping, multiyear agreement could also represent a thaw in what have often …
• 21 July

  AmEx’s $2 Billion Profit and other Digital Transactions News Briefs

  • American Express Co. reported $2 billion in net income for the second quarter, including a $1.1 billion pre-tax gain from the sale of its Costco Wholesale Corp. cobranded portfolio to Citigroup Inc., which is now issuing a cobranded
• 21 July

  Visa Notes 326 Million U.S. Chip Cards and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • American Express Co. reported $2 billion in net income for the second quarter, including a $1.1 billion pre-tax gain from the sale of its Costco Wholesale Corp. cobranded portfolio to Citigroup Inc., which is now issuing a cobranded Costco Visa credit card. AmEx’s U.S. card-billed business grew 2% year …