Prepaid Cards

Processor Fiserv Inc. reported that its Accel debit network has added new transaction-routing options, including the ability to process signature-based transactions. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is using the new signature service, Fiserv said. Accel also will make signatures optional for merchants beginning in April, as are the four general-purpose card networks. …

UATP, which is owned by and provides payment processing for many of the world’s airlines, said it is now accepted for U.S. ticket purchases on Expedia, Orbitz, and Travelocity. General Catalyst announced that soon-to-retire American Express Co. chief executive Ken Chenault has joined the venture-capital firm as chairman and a …

Investors gave Starbucks Corp. the cold shoulder Friday morning on news that despite a record $6.1 billion in quarterly revenues, growth is slowing in the United States. But the coffee giant’s payments business has several initiatives brewing, executives reported late Thursday. A leader in closed-loop prepaid cards and mobile payments …

• Bill processor Invoice Cloud announced a collaboration with PayNearMe to allow customers to pay bills with cash at participating retail stores, including CVS, 7-Eleven, Family Dollar, Casey’s General Stores, and ACE Cash Express. • The Miami Parking Authority, the municipal parking-management authority for Miami, said drivers had used the …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced changes to its controversial prepaid accounts rule and extended its effective date by one year, to April 2019. The changes will adjust error-resolution requirements for prepaid card providers and will make it easier for consumers to link credit card accounts to digital wallets, some …

Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) generated $1.1 billion in segment revenues from its Merchant Solutions unit in 2017, a 22.8% increase from $898.5 million in 2016, the Columbus, Ga.-based processor reported late Tuesday. That growth outpaced 2017’s revenue increases of 5.2% and 12.6%, respectively, in TSYS’s card-issuing and Netspend prepaid …

Fraudulent online sales of cars, recreational vehicles, boats, and outdoor equipment are soaring, with the scams typically funded through the victims’ gift cards, according to recent FBI data. A public-service announcement the FBI posted last week on its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Web site says the site received 26,967 complaints …

Gift and prepaid card services provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. reported Tuesday that it has a deal with two financial firms to be taken private for $3.5 billion. Private-equity firm Silver Lake Management L.L.C. and hedge fund P2 Capital Partners are offering $45.25 per share in cash. The offer represents …

The Chicago Transit Authority, an early proponent of open-loop fare payments, announced Monday that the general-purpose payment feature in some of its fare cards will expire Dec. 31. The operator of the nation’s second-largest transit system says riders did not embrace the idea of a CTA-provided general-purpose prepaid account coupled …

Discover Financial Services could find itself in the catbird’s seat if Apple Inc.’s new Apple Pay Cash person-to-person payment service gains popularity as a way to pay merchants. In addition to its main P2P function, Apple Pay Cash is accepted at any merchant location that accepts Apple’s 3-year-old Apple Pay …