Transaction Processing

As the sweeping plan to update the U.S. automated clearing house network and other parts of the country’s payments system—an initiative known as faster payments—draws nearer, the first hints of what it could mean for merchants are being discussed. The faster-payments project, under the aegis of the Federal Reserve, will …

Boston-based Flywire Corp., which for years has been processing tuition payments for students attending universities in foreign countries, is in the closing stage of a plan to enter the enormous market for processing payments between businesses in different countries. Pilots involving nine companies will run through the end of this …

Ten months after prepaid payments specialist Green Dot Corp. made amends with investor Harvest Capital Strategies LLC over a dispute about the company’s direction, Green Dot is adding a Harvest executive as an observer and advisor to its board of directors, the company announced Monday. Pasadena, Calif.-based Green Dot says Jeffrey …

• Private-equity fund Vista Equity Partners said it would buy Canadian payments and financial software provider DH Corp. (D+H) for C$4.8 billion ($3.6 billion) in cash and merge it with one of its portfolio companies, United Kingdom-based Misys, a software provider for retail and corporate banking. • Merchant processor Payment Data Systems Inc. said …

The week started out on a fusion theme when a private-equity firm said it would buy Canadian payments and financial software developer DH Corp. for C$4.8 billion ($3.6 billion) and merge it with one of its portfolio companies, United Kingdom-based Misys, a software provider for retail and corporate banking. Also …

Facing a Congressional effort to overturn its recently released prepaid rule, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday issued a proposal to delay the rule’s effective date by six months. In the 16-page proposal, the agency suggests moving the effective date from Oct. 1 of this year to April 1, …

• Payments provider Clearent LLC completed its purchase of Payment Alliance International’s Merchant Services Division. The deal expands Clearent’s annual processing volume to $14 billion. • International payment-services provider Planet Payment Inc. reported that it processed a total of 191.6 million settled transactions in 2016, down 16% from 227.5 million transactions in …

• Retailer H&M Group said it will encourage its suppliers to pay their workers via mobile money or other digital funds. The initiative is part of the Better Than Cash Alliance, a United Nations-based federation of governments, companies, and organizations fostering digital payments in lieu of cash. Mastercard Inc. and Visa …

VeriFone Systems Inc. acknowledged that hackers targeted two dozen convenience stores in an attempt to get at sensitive payment data by infiltrating the point-of-sale terminal maker’s corporate network in January. The confirmation follows a report Tuesday on KrebsOnSecurity.com that disclosed the attack. The site, which specializes in information-technology threats and …

• Punchh, provider of mobile loyalty systems for restaurants, has introduced a chatbot that allows customers to “converse” with dining clients on Facebook Messenger, Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa, and other platforms. Punchh says the chatbot integrates “quickly and easily” with existing point-of-sale, loyalty, and ordering programs. • Royal Bank of Canada said …