Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

March, 2019

• 18 March

  Weeks After Fiserv’s Bid for First Data, FIS Puts up $43 Billion to Snap up Worldpay

  The other shoe has dropped. Fidelity National Information Services Inc.’s $43-billion cash-and-stock deal to acquire Worldpay Inc., announced early Monday, will create a processing behemoth that will compete globally across a sweeping range of payments businesses, including merchant acquiring, e-commerce, faster payments, and core processing. And though the bosses of …
• 18 March

  FIS And Worldpay: Merger Mania Probably Isn’t Over, Analysts Say

  

  Close observers of the payment-processing industry predicted Fiserv Inc. would start a merger wave when it announced its $22 billion deal to acquire First Data Corp. in January. That prophecy seems to have come true with the even bigger $43 billion FIS-Worldpay merger announced Monday, and the consolidation wave probably hasn’t …
• 18 March

  SpotOn Integrates Poynt Terminal and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/18/19

  

  SpotOn Transact LLC said it will integrate Poynt Inc.’s smart point-of-sale terminal into its platform. SpotOn said it is the first to work with Poynt to integrate loyalty, marketing, and POS software directly into the terminal hardware. Synchrony Financial expanded the merchant categories eligible to accept its Synchrony Car Care …
• 15 March

  Bountiful Stolen Personal Data Fuels Unrelenting Online Fraud Attacks, Forter Says

  

  In a time when criminal access to consumer data has never been more common, merchants continue to experience pervasive and persistent fraud attempts. That’s the key takeaway from the 2019 sixth annual Fraud Attack Index from Forter Inc. released Thursday. How bad is the problem? Fraud grew in 2018 in …
• 15 March

  First Data Rejected Overtures From ‘Party A’ Before Accepting Fiserv’s Merger Offer

  

  First Data Corp. began talking with a potential merger partner identified only as ‘Party A’ more than a year before Fiserv Inc.’s $22 billion takeover offer for the big payment processor was announced, according to a proxy statement Fiserv and First Data filed this week. The lengthy document—more than 300 …
• 15 March

  Visa and Mastercard May Face U.S. Ban on Venezuela Transactions and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/15/19

  

  The Trump administration is considering sanctions that would ban Visa Inc., Mastercard Inc., and financial institutions from handling transactions in Venezuela, according to Reuters. The move would be aimed at restricting the ability of the Venezuelan government, headed by embattled president Nicolas Maduro, to access funds. IBM Corp. may be …
• 14 March

  Car Dealer Adds Aliant Crypto Processing and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 3/14/19

  

  Aliant Payments said it added Bob Moore Auto Group as a client for cryptocurrency processing. The agreement will allow the auto dealer to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin for cars, parts, and service at its Subaru dealership in Oklahoma City. Thales S.A. said Gemalto will operate as a separate company …
• 13 March

  Can Square Succeed Where Walmart Fell Short? Bankers Are Set on Ensuring It Doesn’t

  

  While the nation’s banking industry may not welcome the development, experts say Square Inc.’s recent efforts to establish an industrial loan corporation, a form of bank, could well succeed where others have failed. “Fighting the ILC designation is a good way for the banks to slow a dangerous competitor, but …
• 13 March

  EVO Plans To Pump Up U.S. Growth While Eyeing Further Foreign Expansion

  

  Merchant acquirer EVO Payments Inc. plans to reinvigorate its lagging U.S. e-commerce business while still pursuing expansion opportunities abroad, its chief executive said Wednesday. Atlanta-based EVO is one of the smaller publicly traded payment processors, and it has a unique business model. Its roots are in the U.S., but today …
• 13 March

  Cybersecurity Risk Concerns Few Small-Business Owners, a Survey Finds

  

  Those who work in electronic payments know the risks from criminals constantly trying to steal sensitive payment data. Small-business owners, however, may not. Eighty-nine percent of them say there is low to no risk of their businesses facing a data compromise. That startling stat comes from the recently released 2019 …