Prepaid Cards

PAR Technology Corp. said it has signed Pizza Factory for its PAR POS, PAR Ordering, and other PAR technologies to be installed at all of the restaurant chain’s 110 stores. Zip Co Ltd. announced it intends to support Stripe Inc.’s Shared Payment Tokens for checkout via AI agents. Pacific Gas & Electric is …

The number of consumers planning to buy gift cards for self-use rose from 31% last year to 56% in 2026, according to new research results released Monday by Blackhawk Network Inc., a major prepaid card services and technology provider. Overall, 77% of Americans plan to buy gift cards this year, …

Some 73% of online merchants are not ready for AI agents, while AI agents are at least in some cases recommending “unreliable merchants,” according to research from Ballerine, a specialist in merchant risk and compliance. The company conducted 47 interviews among card networks, acquirers, merchants, AI platforms, and payment service providers. …

Visa Inc. said it made the first-ever use of its Tap to Confirm and Tap to Activate technology for issuing banks in collaboration with fintech Keyno and Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Ltd. Visa said instead of using one-time passcodes, call center verification, or other processes, cardholders can confirm their identity or activate …

Voice-ordering specialist Maple Inc. said it is working with Quantic POS, a cloud-based point-of-sale system provider, to make Maple’s artificial intelligence voice-ordering platform available to Quantic merchants. Coastal Pay Inc. released its updated payment gateway that offers easier surcharging and dual pricing compatibility. Buy now, pay later provider Sunbit said it is now available on …

JetBlue Vacations said it will work with Flex Pay, a buy now, pay later platform, to offer monthly payment options to customers planning flight-and-hotel vacation packages. JetBlue Vacations is a unit of JetBlue Airways Corp. SpotOn Transact LLC said four hospitality operators were among new clients signed in the first quarter for …

Blackhawk Network, best known as a gift card platform, says it wants to make it easier for brands to present a consolidated view of a consumer’s gift card balance, refunds, promotional funds, loyalty rewards, and funds used to appease unhappy shoppers. The company’s new stored-value platform enables brands to send …

Firms looking to bring stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies into the payments mainstream are working a variety of angles, as illustrated by news on multiple fronts that emerged early Tuesday. Convera USA LLC, a business-to-business payments platform and provider of foreign-exchange services, announced it will work with Ripple Labs Inc. to …

Money-movement platform Thunes Financial Services Inc. announced Banco Cathay of Costa Rica has adopted its Pay-to-Wallet service for cross-border payments. Loyalzoo Ltd., a developer of customer-engagement software for merchants, announced an agreement under which it will integrate its customer-relationship technology with a new point-of-sale platform from Priority Technology Holdings Inc., the MX …

Chip cards are coming to state benefit programs, with the latest development emerging from Alabama. The state’s Department of Human Resources is mailing electronic benefit cards embedded with chips as a means to combat fraud, according to an announcement early Friday from the chip card supplier, Conduent Inc. The chip …