Vending

• USA Technologies Inc., a provider of wireless payment services for vending machines and other unattended merchant locations, reported $169 million in purchase volume on its 429,000-location network in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016 ended June 30, up 50% from a year earlier. Transaction volume hit 89 million, up …

• Shift4 Corp. announced it is among the first payment gateways to introduce a software update to support the various quick-chip solutions from the major payment brands for faster EMV chip card transactions. • Uber and Visa Inc. launched Uber Local Offers, a program that enables Uber riders to earn …

PayRange Inc., a specialist in contactless payments for vending machines, is making good on $12 million in funding it raised last year with a couple of contract announcements. Portland, Ore.-based PayRange said Monday the Canadian National Vending Alliance, a coalition of large vending operators in Canada, will equip all vending …

• Visa Inc.’s Canadian unit posted an “open letter” in Canadian newspapers Thursday to protest Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s plan to stop accepting Visa cards in its 400 Canadian stores beginning July 18 because of allegedly high acceptance costs. “Wal-Mart has initiated a public flight—something we never wanted—as they are using …

By John Stewart The Bitcoin digital currency is surging again. Factors ranging from the collapse of the Chinese yuan to the supposed unmasking of Bitcoin’s inventor have helped push the controversial currency’s price up 15% in the past week, to a close at $415.25 on Thursday, according to data compiled …

The increasing penetration of digital payments worldwide is helping drive conversion of point-of-sale terminals, vending machines, and parking meters from standalone devices to connected machines, according to a report released Tuesday by Berg Insight, a Gothenberg, Sweden-based research firm that follows the wireless market. Worldwide, Berg forecasts the number of …

With $12 million in new funding, PayRange Inc. wants to place more of its Bluetooth-equipped dongles inside vending machines to enable more consumers to make contactless, and cashless, payments. The funding, announced Thursday by Portland, Ore.-based PayRange, will be used to expand its staff and increase the number of PayRange-equipped …

Unattended-payments provider USA Technologies Inc. (USAT) said its revenues increased 47% to $15.4 million in fiscal 2015’s third quarter ended March 31 versus $10.4 million year earlier as connections and transaction volume in its wireless network rapidly increased. Malvern, Pa.-based USAT on Monday said its network handled 54.8 million transactions, …

By Jim Daly After a hiatus of more than three years, vending machines that get payment services through USA Technologies Inc. will soon be accepting MasterCard Inc.’s debit cards again as the result of an agreement between the two companies that USA Technologies announced Friday. Under the three-year agreement, “MasterCard …

Three years after the Durbin Amendment took effect, the law’s painful impact on the cost of selling soda, candy, newspapers, and other small-ticket items remains an issue. And things may stay that way unless the newly elected Congress acts after taking office at the turn of the year, observers say. …