Merchant

Profits at the custody bank rose 16%, but it announced a new streamlining program that is expected to generate yearly savings of $250 million by 2020.

By turning itself into a pseudo payment facilitator as part of a new program, Elavon says it is in a better position to grow by offering services in a fast-growing sector.

JPMorgan Chase has made several investments in financial technology startups, but its plan to buy WePay will give its 4 million small-business clients a much more direct way to adopt digital payments.

TD Bank has pledged $3 million to provide credit counseling to small-business owners. The hope is that those owners will use commercial loans to replace personal credit cards and home equity as their primary forms of business funding.

UL Transaction Security has teamed up with Zurich-based payment software engineering firm Abrantix to create a robot to automate the typically tedious, manual process of payment terminal testing.

You can’t just turn the computers off and shut your door, nor can you rely on outdated, traditional training methods to prepare your team for a landscape of threats and continuously evolve, writes Laura Lee, executive vice president of cyber training and assessments at the Circadence Corporation.

Consumers now expect money to move at web speed, be instantly available, and safe to spend, writes Drew Edwards, CEO of Ingo Money.

In a surprise move, the Supreme Court will decide whether Amex may bar merchants from steering customers to less expensive card networks. The card issuer will have to prove the consumer gain from its practices outweighs the merchant pain.

The U.S. Supreme Court accepted a case that could roil the credit-card business, agreeing to consider reviving government allegations that American Express Co. thwarts competition by prohibiting merchants from steering customers to cards with lower fees.

The ROI with the incremental costs and considerations will determine whether to proceed or not whether it is cashless, cash, or other alternative payment methods, writes Laura Townsend, senior vice president of the Merchant Advisory Group.