Transaction Processing

Fraud, acquisitions, and interchange dominated the top 10 list of news articles posted to DigitalTransactions.net in 2018. Starting with a $6.2 billion pact between Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc., on one hand, and defendant banks, on the other, stemming from 13-year-old litigation over credit card interchange, to American Express Co.’s …

Sixty-two percent of U.S. consumers used a credit card in 2018, up from 60% in 2017, finds a report from Mercator Advisory Group Bestpass Inc., a provider of toll-management services for commercial fleets, said it finished 2018 with 500,000 active transponders in its network of almost 6,000 clients. The fastest …

With the enactment of data-breach notification laws in South Dakota and Alabama in 2018, all 50 states now have such laws, according to the Covington & Burling LLP law firm. Financial-institution processor Fiserv Inc. said the newly chartered Mi Bank in Bloomfield Township, Mich., will use a variety of Fiserv …

Bits of Gold, said to be one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Israel, has developed an application programming interface that allows merchants to accept cryptocurrency and receive value in the form of U.S. dollars or Israeli shekels. Cybersecurity news outlet The Hacker News said PayPal Holdings Inc. banned without explanation …

Chicago-based software developer Epazz Inc. spun off payments subsidiary ZenaPay Inc. as a Canadian corporation that will pursue business in the cannabis market. Citing a study by a British research firm, biometric card manufacturer SmartMetric Inc. says nearly 579 million biometric credit and debit cards will be in use globally …

A subsidiary of Visa Inc. is offering to buy Earthport PLC, a London-based provider of cross-border payments for banks and businesses, for approximately $250 million in cash. The offer represents a 250% premium to Earthport’s six-month average share price ended Dec. 24 and has the endorsement of Earthport’s board of …

In a lawsuit filed last week in federal court in Atlanta, mobile point-of-sale specialist AnywhereCommerce Inc. claims Ingenico Group SA interfered with its contracts and business relationships and violated its trade secrets. The case, filed Dec. 20 in the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division, alleges that Paris-based Ingenico and …

Sales from Thanksgiving through Christmas on all forms of payment increased 5.1% compared to the same period last year to more than $850 billion, according to Mastercard Spending Pulse, which says this is the most robust growth seen in six years. Online sales gained 19.1%. Facebook Inc.’s WhatsApp messaging platform …

Mindbody Inc., the health and wellness software-application provider, said Vista Equity Partners will buy the company for $1.9 billion. Shareholders will receive $36.50 per share, a 68% premium over Mindbody’s Dec. 21 closing price of $21.72. Mindbody became an independent sales organization in 2010 to be able to sell its …

Restaurants are a coveted merchant segment for many acquirers and independent sales organizations. So, knowing how payments are changing and the impact that might have on this merchant segment is critical. First off, in 2019, the prospect for more consumers carrying, and wanting to use, contactless credit and debit cards …