Mastercard To Acquire Ekata and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/19/21

Mastercard Inc. said it will acquire Ekata, a digital identity services company, for $850 million. Ekata helps identify good customers and businesses and bad actors in real time, it said. Ekata, formerly the business-to-business unit of Whitepages Pro, spun off in 2019 and adopted the new name. The deal is expected to close in the next six months.
Humbl Inc. announced it has launched the first version of its Humbl Pay mobile app, which allows users to find, pay, tip, and review merchants. The app also enables users to find and pay for tickets to live events.
Pay-at-table payments provider TableSafe Inc. said dollars spent in U.S. restaurants on its system in the first quarter increased to the highest level seen since the first quarter of 2020. Spending in March alone was up 77% over March 2020, when pandemic restrictions began to be imposed, the company said.
PayRange Inc., which links vending machines and kiosks for mobile payments, said its typical user is now averaging 15 transactions per month, with more than half of all PayRange transactions now completed via mobile payment.
Spending on blockchain technology will reach almost $6.6 billion this year, up more than 50% over 2020, according to International Data Corp.’s Worldwide Blockchain Spending Guide. Of that total, spending in the U.S. market will reach nearly $2.6 billion. The biggest application for blockchain is cross-border payments and settlements, IDC said.

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