David Heun

The coronavirus pandemic has generated more interest in pay-at-the-pump apps, a growing segment of the payments industry that may not have grown fast enough to be ready for the sudden surge of interest in contactless payments.

Cloud-based mainframe provider LzLabs is expanding into the North American market, seeking to help banks, payment companies, insurance providers, telcos and government entities convert legacy mainframes to software-based platforms.

With the COVID-19 health pandemic wreaking havoc on jobs, investments, consumer debt and lending, secured credit cards can address a vital need for people who may not have considered the product in the past.

Viewing it as a way to help businesses emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ingenico is targeting digital merchants with expanded services addressing cross border, recurring and subscription payments.

For the past several years, the concept of sharing transaction data between merchants, processors and issuers has been considered a good security measure to curb fraud. But someone has to compile and compare that data in such a way to not only stop fraud, but assure legitimate transactions are not declined.

The role of EMVCo — which is often seen as an extension of the card brands that deals only with chip-based EMV plastic cards— has come into sharper focus.

Health care payments provider RevSpring has launched software that adds a payment button for patients using its MyChart or Hyperspace portals.

Mobile payments provider Judopay is partnering with marketing specialist Thyngs to provide touch-free payments for pubs and restaurants that just reopened in the U.K.

Nandan Sheth, Fiserv's global head of digital commerce, talks to PaymentsSource Associate Editor David Heun about the unprecedented challenge of bringing businesses into the digital age in an environment where many are adapting only out of necessity.

Vodacom's Tanzania M-Pesa wallet is expanding its money transfer services throughout Africa, enabling more than 200 countries globally to now send money to and receive it from Tanzania.

South African investigators' revelation last week that fraudsters stole more than $3.2 million from the banking division of the country's post office more than a year ago served as a stark reminder that encryption doesn't mean a thing if the key is left unprotected.

Even the independent sales organizations that heeded the warnings of colleagues and experts for the past decade about not letting advancing payments technology pass them by weren't fully prepared for what the coronavirus pandemic would throw at them.

While a business seeking payments and business management services could piece together what it needs from a few different providers, it's increasingly easier to find fintechs and startups demonstrating how all services can funnel through one platform.

Mastercard has agreed to acquire Finicity for a reported price of $825 million, a move the card brand says will strengthen its open banking platform and expand financial services through more real-time access to data.

The Biblical narrative of the Tower of Babel was meant to explain why people throughout the world speak different languages, but in the modern-day payments version it apparently applies to the complex and problem-ridden transaction chargeback process.

The coronavirus has spawned a fear over handling cash, creating a problem for the common practice at restaurants of using a card to pay while leaving cash for the tip. Given the challenges and restrictions tied to reopening, it's a conundrum eateries can ill afford.

When launching an e-commerce service in Russia more than a year ago, Ingenico Group knew it was entering a complex financial and payments market, as well as one with domestic e-commerce ecosystems unique to each region.

By adding direct debit from bank accounts as a payment option, YayPay feels it is in a far better position to help the accounts receivable departments of U.S. businesses expand international growth.

Backed by its consumer survey acknowledging a significant shift in payment preferences to contactless options since the COVID-19 pandemic, Fattmerchant is launching software that can quickly add contactless payment acceptance for its merchants.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has endured a fairly choppy legal ride since unveiling its idea five years ago to establish a special charter for non-bank fintech companies to access a nationwide financial system for lending services without worrying about being licensed to do so in all 50 states.