Acquiring TIO Networks gives PayPal an all-important launchpad for reaching consumers underserved by banks. How will it leverage that asset? PayPal Holdings Inc.’s $233-million acquisition of Vancouver-based processor TIO Networks Corp., which was finalized in July, does more than make the digital-payments system an immediate player in the bill-payment market. …

Despite obstacles, payment processors and fintechs increasingly are looking at cross-border e-commerce for high-growth opportunities. Go global. That’s the credo an increasing number of payment processors and financial-technology firms subscribe to as technology transforms cross-border commerce from yesterday’s luxury into an attainable option for consumers today. Researcher Talie Baker, a …

For decades, debit cards have been reliable revenue generators and relationship builders for financial institutions of all sizes. But now that bulwark for banks is under threat from multiple alternatives, putting financial-services executives on the defensive and forcing them to rethink their card strategies, argues a new paper out this …

In late July, the currency known as Bitcoin split into two competing, incompatible currencies. The rebels who initiated the so-called fork may or may not survive the onslaught of shocked traders, many of whom rely on this currency for ransomware and other illicit payments. Still, even if Bitcoin-2 proves to …

The pending sale by American Express Co. of its Serve technology platform to prepaid card program manager InComm moves AmEx more toward the model used by most other general-purpose prepaid card issuers and still keeps the upscale AmEx brand involved in a business mostly oriented toward moderate- and lower-income consumers, …

The international financial-messaging service SWIFT is set to offer a gateway for U.S. financial institutions to link to a real-time payments facility offered by The Clearing House, a payments company owned by major U.S. banks. Team One Credit Union, a Michigan financial institution, has added Bukoski Agency, a fuel retailer, to its …

PayPal Holdings Inc. and Bank of America Corp. announced an agreement whereby PayPal will tokenize BofA cards for in-store transactions based on the PayPal wallet. The in-store payments will work with a PayPal service using near-field communication that PayPal says is coming, without adding details. Discover Financial Services said in its second quarter earnings …

Speculation of a possible buyout apparently is boosting the stock of payment processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), according to press reports; one equity analyst recently issued a report saying a buyout of TSYS by processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) would be “a home run.” TSYS is scheduled to …

Prepaid card provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. said its revenue for the second quarter ended June 17 totaled $463.1 million, an 18.4% increase from $391.2 million in the same period in 2016. The company’s loss of $6.4 million improved from the $11.3 million loss last year. Blackhawk said Target Corp. will be …

When you’ve got something hot like stolen credit card numbers, you have only a brief opportunity to cash in before they go cold. Manually sifting through hundreds, even thousands, of card accounts bought in bulk can take more time than criminals have, which is why they increasingly are relying on …