Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
• Samsung Electronics Co.’s soon-to-be-released Galaxy S8 smart phone will employ facial-recognition technology for mobile payments, including the company’s
March, 2017
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16 March
Why Flywire Is Expanding Its Reach Into Cross-Border Business-to-Business Payments
Boston-based Flywire Corp., which for years has been processing tuition payments for students attending universities in foreign countries, is in the closing stage of a plan to enter the enormous market for processing payments between businesses in different countries. Pilots involving nine companies will run through the end of this …
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16 March
No Easy Answers as E-Retailers Contend With Compounding Payments Developments
Rattle off a selection of payment trends—EMV, tokenization, fraud—and many e-retailers may be beset by apprehension. That’s especially true if the retailer looks to support emerging payment types, according to Matt Herren, director of payments analytics at Computer Services Inc., a Paducah, Ky.-based financial-technology provider. Herren, speaking at the Merchant …
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16 March
First Data Agrees to Acquire Acculynk, a Pioneer in PIN Debit for Web-Based Transactions
The idea of allowing consumers to use PIN debit cards to pay online merchants has been a tough sell in the payments business, but observers hope a deal announced Thursday may give it a much-needed boost. Processing kingpin First Data Corp. said it will acquire Acculynk Inc., a 9-year-old Atlanta-based …
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15 March
Chatbots Are ‘Disappointing,’ Says ShopChat, So It’s Rolling Out a Shopping Keyboard
Chatbots have been carrying out commerce on messenger apps only since last spring, yet already some observers are less than thrilled with the experience, says Zephrin Lasker, chief executive and cofounder of a startup called ShopChat. “Many companies are pursuing robot assistant chatbots to interact with people on messaging. These …
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15 March
UnionPay International’s Vast Reach and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• China-based UnionPay International says more than 41 million merchants and more than 2 million ATMs in 160 countries and regions now accept its UnionPay card, as do 10-million-plus Web-based merchants. More than 80% of U.S. merchants accept the card, the company says. • Point-of-sale terminal maker Equinox Payments said …
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14 March
Amends Made, Green Dot Appoints a Formerly Hostile Investor as a Board Advisor
Ten months after prepaid payments specialist Green Dot Corp. made amends with investor Harvest Capital Strategies LLC over a dispute about the company’s direction, Green Dot is adding a Harvest executive as an observer and advisor to its board of directors, the company announced Monday. Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot says Jeffrey …
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14 March
With Its Surprise Higher Bid, Euronet Tries To Step on Ant’s Plan To Acquire MoneyGram
Euronet Worldwide Inc., owner of the Ria money-transfer service, early Tuesday announced a $1 billion bid to acquire Dallas-based MoneyGram International Inc. Euronet’s unexpected bid casts a cloud of uncertainty over the $880 million buyout offer China-based Ant Financial Services Group submitted for MoneyGram in January. Leawood, Kan.-based Euronet called …
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14 March
StubHub Users Soon Can Pay With Visa Checkout and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• Point-of-sale system maker E la Carte Inc. launched the PrestoPrime EMV Terminal designed for pay-at-the-table use. In addition to chip-card acceptance, the device also works with contactless payments, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and Quick Response code-based services. • Visa Inc. said StubHub users soon will be able …
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14 March
With P2P Rivalry Heating up, Google Brings Gmail Payments to Its Android Platform
Alphabet Inc.’s Google Inc. unit converted its Android-based Google Wallet into a peer-to-peer payment service two years ago, and on Tuesday Google extended that service to Gmail, its popular email application. With the new feature, Gmail users can send and request money on Android phones, much as they have been …