Merchant

Attacks on ATMs and point-of-sale machines are getting more sophisticated and frequent. Crooks are trying to get as much use as they can out of their skimming devices before the migration to chip cards is complete.

Loyalty programs are getting more sophisticated, but they still typically boil down to a game of collecting and redeeming points.

A Trump administration budget proposal to end federal funding for community development financial institutions would push small businesses to high-risk, high-cost lenders.

Working primarily with community banks, Promontory Local Credit will provide second-lien loans to small firms, potentially increasing their available credit by 50%.

Payments volume and cross-border business helped drive the strong performance.

Executives at BB&T, KeyCorp and Citizens are milking commercial lending niches and balancing cost control with new investments while waiting for more rate hikes to fatten margins.

Shopify is approaching merchants on two different fronts, launching a new card reader and a "Shopify Pay" app that are both free to current clients.

EBay Inc. failed to sustain investor enthusiasm that its turnaround efforts were working, reporting sales growth that continued to lag behind the e-commerce industry and didn’t narrow the gap with giant Amazon.com Inc.

American Express responded to the stresses from the decline in cobrand business with record ad spending and a focus on digital delivery to lure new customers and expand relationships with existing accounts.

Mobile apps still account for only about one percent of transactions. There are a few ways to increase adoption, such as targeting payment types that are already tough to make with cash.