Mastercard Inc. denies an assertion it intends to raise interchange rates in October following an Aug. 30th story in The Wall Street Journal about interchange rate adjustments expected from Mastercard and Visa Inc. in October and April. Mastercard said the article relied on a report from an advisory firm that is advocating for legislation that …
September, 2023
-
1 September
Bitcoin Depot Adds Merchants Where Consumers Can Buy Crypto at The Point of Sale
Bitcoin Depot Inc., a Bitcoin ATM operator, has expanded the footprint of its BDCheckout program to more than 400 retail locations in Iowa and Louisiana. BDCheckout enables consumers to fund digital wallets with cryptocurrency at checkout through Bitcoin Depot’s network of merchants. Consumers can access BDCheckout at 246 convenience stores …
-
1 September
Vet Platform Otto Secures $43 Million in Financing And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 9/1/23
Otto, a business and payments platform for veterinary practices, announced a $43-millon Series B equity-financing round. The company, formerly called TeleVet, now claims more than 8,000 clinics. Nexo introduced its Nexo Card, a Mastercard-branded card that allows holders to use as either a credit or debit card on each transaction, with …
August, 2023
-
31 August
Debit Is Consumers’ Preferred POS Payment Method, Well Ahead of Credit Cards
Debit cards are the most widely used form of payment, while credit cards rank a distant third, a new study from J.D. Power says. Some 78% of consumers use debit cards at the point of sale, followed by cash (74%) and credit cards (66%), according to the survey. Other forms …
-
31 August
Eye on POS: Elavon Builds Out POS Terminal Suite; Payroc And Ingenico Target Unattended Payments
Small businesses and unattended-payments merchants are getting some attention from point-of-sale terminal sellers with updates from Elavon and Ingenico. First, Elavon, the acquiring arm of U.S. Bank, launched the talech Terminal, a mobile POS device that complements its talech Register, which debuted in 2022. Talech is a software developer acquired …
-
31 August
Investors React to Expected Interchange Updates And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/31/23
The shares of Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. reached all-time highs Wednesday following a report from The Wall Street Journal that the two major card networks plan to raise interchange and network fees in October and April. Visa closed at $246.23 per share, and Mastercard at $413.91. The networks have historically introduced new pricing …
-
30 August
Eye on P2P Payments: Hallmark Adds Venmo Gifting; Zelle Second Quarter Volume up 10%
Sending cash with birthday cards in the mail is risky, but now Hallmark Cards Inc.’s service with Venmo makes it easier and presumably safer. The new Hallmark + Venmo line of cards includes a QR code inside the card that recipients scan to receive the funds to their Venmo accounts. …
-
30 August
70% Prefer In-Person Shopping And Other Digital Transactions News briefs from 8/30/23
Sixty-three percent of consumers in a survey of U.S., U.K., and German shoppers say they prefer to shop in person rather than online, with 70% of U.S. shoppers saying so. The results, released by payments platform Digital River, stemmed from a canvass of 3,000 consumers across the three countries. Garmin launched its …
-
29 August
To Grow Sales, Merchants Are Diversifying Into New Lines of Business, Square Finds
As consumers seek greater value from what they purchase, merchants are responding by diversifying their products and services to know their consumers better and grow sales, research from Square, Block Inc.’s merchant-processing unit, says. One way merchants are engaging consumers on a deeper level is through subscription services, which …
-
29 August
Grubhub Deploys Amazon’s Just Walk Out Tech on Campus
Students at Loyola University Maryland are the first to use Amazon.com Inc.’s Just Walk Out technology in a Grubhub partnership. The tech enables students, faculty, and staff to shop and walk out with their purchases billed within the app. Funding sources can be a meal plan, account balance, or credit …

