Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

April, 2020

• 24 April

  A Plunge in T&E Spending Hits AmEx As It Copes With the Pandemic’s Worldwide Impact

  

  A trend toward a near-total collapse in travel-and-entertainment spending helped drive down overall first-quarter card volume and discount revenue for American Express Co., the company reported Friday. “March was a very difficult month,” Stephen Squeri, AmEx’s chairman and chief executive, told stock analysts during a morning conference call. As with …
• 24 April

  EMS and Womply Pair To Aid Merchant PPP Applications and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/24/20

  

  Independent sales organization Electronic Merchant Systems said it is working with Womply, a software and data-services provider for small businesses, to help merchants find lenders offering quick access to loan applications through the government’s Paycheck Protection Program, a Covid-19 relief effort.For the first time, ransomware incidents overtook payment card data when comparing the …
• 23 April

  Led by a Near Grounding of Travel Spending, Discover’s Volume Is Off 29% in April

  

  Discover cardholders might not jet around the country like many American Express cardholders do, but it’s still telling that Discover’s travel spending volume has plunged 99% this month as governmental stay-at-home orders and business closures to control the Covid-19 pandemic chill the economy. The near grounding of travel spending was …
• 23 April

  Eye on Merchants: Revel Adds an Online-Ordering Tool; Velocity And Womply Prep for PPP’s Second Wave

  

  Many payments providers are doing what they can to help merchants. Revel Systems Inc. launched a standalone version of its online-ordering tool and Velocity Merchant Services is working with Womply to help businesses navigate the Paycheck Protection Program. Called Revel Go, the tool from Atlanta-based Revel can be added to …
• 23 April

  Payroc Acquires Gateway Payments and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/23/20

  

  Payroc LLC said it acquired Gateway Payments LLC, an independent sales organization with merchants primarily along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Terms were not disclosed.Weave Communications Inc., a provider of payments and other services for small businesses, said its Weave Lite tool set will be offered free for 90 days. Weave …
• 22 April

  Prepaid Specialist Blackhawk Rolls Out Digital Rewards And Gets Set to Launch a Donation Site

  

  With consumers contending with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, rewards offered by the card networks could take on added importance. Blackhawk Network is counting on that, and has introduced a capability for mobile-phone users to add digital rewards to their Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay wallets. Working …
• 22 April

  Adyen Posts Double-Digit Volume and Revenue Growth Amid E-Commerce Shopping Binge

  

  With the novel coronavirus driving consumers to e-commerce, payments provider Adyen NV posted first-quarter revenue of 135.5 million euros ($146.9 million), up 34% year-over-year.  Volume rose 38% to 67 billion euros ($72.6 billion). Adyen processes payments for companies such as Uber, McDonalds, and Netflix, and also provides gateway services for …
• 22 April

  AmEx Launches ‘Stand for Small’ Group and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 4/22/20

  

  American Express Co. launched “Stand for Small,” a platform of more than 40 companies who have agreed to lend expertise to small businesses impacted by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.The World Bank predicted in a new report that global remittances will fall by about 20% this year because of the economic crisis …
• 21 April

  Google Dangles Free Listings for Merchants on Its Google Shopping Tab

  

  Alphabet Inc.’s chief subsidiary Google revealed Tuesday that merchants can soon have free listings on its Google Shopping tab. No-cost listings will become available in the United States next week and elsewhere before the end of 2020, Bill Ready, president of commerce at Mountain View, Calif.-based Google, said in a …
• 21 April

  Synchrony Sounds Notes of Cautious Optimism As the Pandemic Takes Its Toll

  

  The nation’s largest issuer of store cards sounded a note of optimism Tuesday as the Covid-19 crisis continued to ravage consumer spending. “Believe it or not, there are deals in the pipeline [with merchants],” said Margaret Keane, chief executive of Synchrony Financial. “We’re not sitting back. We’re highly engaged.” Keane …