Transaction Processing

  Biometrics will be the secure authentication mechanism for 65% of all mobile-commerce transactions in five years. That’s the forecast from Acuity Marketing Intelligence, a Denver-based research firm, in its “The Global Biometrics and Mobility Report: The Convergence of Commerce and Privacy” report released last week. The forecast says this will …

After a 13-year absence, online-payments provider PayPal Holdings Inc. debuted Monday morning on the Nasdaq Stock Market as an independent company following its spin-off Friday from parent eBay Inc. Investors looking for growth opportunities in payments liked what they saw, pushing PayPal’s price up approximately 6% and valuing the company …

First Data Corp. filed a registration statement Monday for an initial public stock offering, a long-anticipated move that the highly leveraged payment processor expects will help reduce its debt. The statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission does not say how many shares First Data plans to issue or …

The annual MidWest Acquirers Conference concluded Thursday in Chicago with a series of sessions addressing several hot-button payments issues. Here’s a rundown of the more salient remarks: —Whither the independent sales organization? With the fundamentals of the acquiring business rapidly turning towards mobile and cloud-based technology, ISOs are finding themselves …

Students from outside the United States are flooding the country to attend colleges, universities, even secondary schools, and that presents a payments problem for them and their families. Wire transfers, the typical way for foreigners to pay tuition and other fees, are cumbersome and expensive. Enter peerTransfer Corp., a 4-year-old …

On the eve of his company’s separation from long-time parent eBay Inc., PayPal Inc.’s new chief executive on Thursday let it be known he intends to dramatically boost usage among PayPal’s 169 million active accounts by stressing single-touch checkouts and new capabilities like Xoom, the online-remittance service it is buying …

First Data Corp. has added another digital gift card company to its portfolio with the purchase announced Tuesday of Transaction Wireless Inc., a digital gift card distribution company. The purchase of San Diego-based Transaction Wireless complements First Data’s 2014 deal to buy Gyft, a digital platform that enables consumers buy, …

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported Tuesday that charge volume in its massive merchant-processing business grew 12% in the second quarter, and Wells Fargo & Co. said its merchant-related fee income rose 10%. New York City-based JPMorgan Chase said payment volume in its Chase Commerce Solutions unit totaled $234.1 billion versus $209 …

The price of Bitcoin, which has languished under $300 for more than six months, briefly shot past that milestone over the weekend, only to close lower in trading later Sunday. The digital currency, which traded well over $600 a year ago before beginning a slide that saw it plunge below …

A bill introduced Thursday with bipartisan backing in the U.S. Senate would prevent federal regulators from cracking down on banks that provide financial services to legal marijuana businesses. The bill, similar to one pending in the House of Representatives, aims to rectify the lack of access many recreational and medicinal …