Pricing

With proposals aimed at controlling merchants’ costs for accepting credit cards having re-emerged in Congress, research has been emerging on both sides of the issue this summer as advocates for sellers and card issuers compete to influence any eventual legislation. The latest thrust appeared Monday with a research report arguing …

Services such as buy now, pay later loans and personal financial management will help drive the global volume of digital-wallet transactions to $16 trillion in 2028, up 77% from $9 trillion this year, according to a report from Juniper Research. Katapult Holdings Inc. said more than 20 merchants are now available on …

Spotify, the digital-music service, has notified long-time customers it will no longer support payments from Apple Inc.’s App Store for premium subscriptions. Those customers who use the Apple service will be moved to Spotify’s free service and must transition to an alternative, such as PayPal or a credit card, for …

Travel-technology provider Sabre Corp. announced it has acquired Techsembly, a gift card and e-commerce platform for hotels. The U.S. Payments Forum published a white paper outlining the impact of the Federal Reserve’s clarification that debit card issuers must enable a choice of two unaffiliated networks for all transactions, including card-not-present payments. The clarification took effect …

IHG Hotels & Resorts, with close to 4,000 properties, will use FreedomPay Inc.’s payment technology, the payments provider said. Meanwhile, Helcim launched its Helcim Fee Saver surcharge program. Philadelphia-based FreedomPay says its FreedomPay Commerce Platform will provide the payments functionality for multiple IHG brands, including InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton, …

Toast Inc., provider of popular payment and business-management systems for restaurants, is testing a 99-cent fee for online orders of $10 and above that the company could roll out nationwide next month. The test is generating criticism from restaurateurs on social media and debate in the merchant-acquiring industry about pricing …

Helcim Inc., a Calgary, Alberta-based payments provider, launched its Helcim Smart Terminal, which it says carries no contract or monthly fees. The device, which uses the Android operating system, is priced at $349 (C$429) and will be available this summer. Among its technical capabilities is a built-in printer, a large …

The leveling off of e-commerce activity continues as online prices, as measured by the Adobe Digital Price Index, fell 2.3% in May from a year ago. This is the ninth consecutive year-over-year decrease in online prices, Adobe Inc. says. Of the 18 categories tracked by Adobe, prices fell in 11 …

Some 80% of U.S. consumers say they have used a peer-to-peer payment service at least once, while two-thirds report having used a mobile wallet in the past year, according to the 2023 State of Payments report from card-issuing platform Marqeta Inc. The study surveyed 4,091 consumers in February, including 2,013 in the …

Sparing merchants card-acceptance fees is the fuel that has propelled alternative payments options, such as account-to-account transactions. One startup benefitting from this trend is London-based Sway Money Ltd., which enables merchants to accept account-to-account payments using a QR code and an off-the-shelf mobile device. Sway, which was incorporated in December …