Merchant

Amazon.com Inc.’s proposed $13.7 billion purchase of Whole Foods Market Inc. won quick U.S. antitrust approval, showing that concerns in Washington about the growing power of technology companies weren’t enough to derail the online retailer’s biggest-ever acquisition.

Mobile wallets and digital payments apps are erasing the distinction between credit and debit, but many issuers still cling to old practices that treat those audiences differently. SunTrust is working to change that.

As marketing becomes more expensive, issuers are under pressure to find new ways to lure merchants, according to Eric Marks and Sean Clark from West Monroe Partners.

Contactless payments today seem to address the slowness of EMV contact without compromising security. And unbeknownst to many, it uses the same security protocol, writes Andrey Tikhonov, senior director of payment technology for Infinite Peripherals.

OnlyID, a joint offering from FIS and Equifax, is meant to become consumers’ single sign-on for bank and retail websites and apps. Longstanding relationships may give it a better shot at achieving network effect than previous attempts.

Amazon casts a huge shadow over the retail industry, but it can be as much an inspiration as a threat.

Payroc has introduced a mobile acceptance program leveraging iTransact, a Utah-based mobile payments technology firm it acquired last year.

Verifone will provide its full-scale payments-as-a-service platform to the Shufersal supermarket chain in Israel, allowing the stores to offer an omnichannel payment experience to customers.

Global payment gateway Payworks will partner with Squire to bring EMV chip card payments to the barbershop.

Banking lobbies are still opposed to the Durbin Amendment, which would hurt a free market, writes Mark Horwedel, CEO of the Merchant Advisory Group.