Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook reiterated Wednesday what his counterpart at The Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said two weeks ago: the Apple Card’s debut was the most successful launch of a credit card in U.S. history. Cook didn’t provide numbers, though he did announce a no-interest promotion when the …
October, 2019
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30 October
Kroger Subsidiaries End Visa Credit Card Boycott, but Terms of Their Accord Are a Secret
Two subsidiaries of The Kroger Co. have ended their boycott of Visa credit cards that started 14 months ago over acceptance costs, but it’s unknown if Visa granted the grocery-store giant any fee reductions. Local media outlets in the West reported Wednesday morning that Visa credit card acceptance had resumed …
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30 October
Green Dot Extends Pact With Walmart, And Both Firms Will Collaborate on a Fintech Lab
Walmart Inc. and Green Dot Corp. reported Tuesday they have extended the prepaid program manager’s agreement with the giant retailer for another seven years, assuring that Green Dot will continue to serve as the issuing bank and manager for the Walmart MoneyCard program. Walmart says the new contract begins Jan. …
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30 October
Kroger Lifts Visa Ban and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/30/19
The Kroger Co. lifted its acceptance ban on Visa credit cards at its Smith’s Food & Drug and Foods Co subsidiaries, according to news reports. Kroger, citing what it called high acceptance costs, first banned the cards at its small Foods Co chain in August 2018 and extended it to the larger Smith’s …
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30 October
EMVCo Is Eyeing Some New Initiatives for EMV 3-D Secure 2.0
While much attention in the payments industry in recent months has focused on EMVCo’s Secure Remote Commerce (SRC) specification, another e-commerce spec from the standards body could be receiving some tweaks. These possible initiatives, which concern the EMV 3-D Secure specifications, include a way of adding users’ travel data to …
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29 October
Mastercard’s Top and Bottom Lines Benefit as Transaction Volume Jumps 20%
Mastercard Inc. switched 20% more transactions on its worldwide network in the third quarter than it did a year earlier as purchase volumes remained strong and new growth markets generated more payments. “Growth was broad-based,” Mastercard president and chief executive Ajay Banga said Tuesday morning during the company’s third-quarter earnings …
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29 October
Uber Money Debuts and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/29/19
Ride-share provider Uber Technologies Inc. announced Uber Money, an update to its roster of financial services, mostly for its drivers. Among the products is the relaunch of the Uber credit card in a deal with Barclays. Uber Money also can provide Uber drivers real-time access to their earnings in an Uber Debit …
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29 October
Synchrony Looks to Venmo’s Social Network To Help Market the P2P Service’s New Credit Card
PayPal Holdings Inc. and Synchrony Financial have been sparing about the details of a new credit card they plan to issue for PayPal’s Venmo peer-to-peer payment service, but on Monday a top Synchrony executive said the partners are counting on a key characteristic of Venmo to help market the new card. …
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28 October
UPDATED: Eye on Amazon: Alexa Will Pay Your Bills
Amazon.com Inc.’s payments ambitions continue to manifest themselves with Monday’s announcement that Paymentus Corp. will enable bill payment and management via Amazon’s voice-controlled Alexa devices. Charlotte, N.C.-based Paymentus said billers on the Paymentus Instant Payment Network will be able to offer consumers a way to link their utility accounts to …
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28 October
COMMENTARY: Three Huge Misconceptions Business Owners Have About Payment Solutions
Owners of small- and medium-size businesses (SMBs) generally have a negative outlook on the payments industry, and for good reason. The merchant-services world, in particular, has an ugly track record, including lackluster customer support, not to mention misleading sales practices that lead to costly processing rates, hidden fees, and burdensome …