Payment processing

Mastercard Inc. agreed to buy a payments platform owned by Denmark-based Nets for 2.85 billion euros ($3.19 billion), using its biggest-ever acquisition to help extend a push into faster payments.

The payments system, called FedNow, would go head-to-head against one built by big banks; the senator from Oregon wants Amazon to address vulnerabilities in its cloud data storage.

Addressing payment security and achieving interoperability with a rival, private-sector network are just some of the challenges the central bank faces in building a government-backed real-time payment system.

As part of its justification for developing its own government-backed system, the central bank said that leaving only a single fast network run by big banks constitutes a potential risk to the economy.

Community banks shouldn’t wait for the Fed to create a new real-time payments rail when consumers are already flocking to other options.

The CEO's tenure lasted just 18 months; the former FDIC chair says having Congress more involved in setting accounting standards "could well backfire on the banks."

Investors are making bets on checkout-free retail, a category that is just as challenging as it is innovative. But it's payment technology's race to the moon, a chance to seize a favorable position in the struggle to save retail.

Younger consumers still like to go to the mall. Keeping them there requires a mix of easy payments, financing and shopping in multiple channels, says Nufar Segal, general manager of consumer financing for at Jifiti.

Under the Illicit Cash Act, anti-money-laundering rules would be clearer — so banks would have no excuses for noncompliance.

Standardizing charge backs would make management easier, and merchants would only have to understand one set of protocols, which could also standardize responses, says Monica Eaton-Cardone, COO of Chargebacks 911 and CIO of its parent company Global Risk Technologies.

“It wouldn't be unusual” for the Federal Reserve to work alongside private-sector operators in the creation of a U.S. real-time payments system, its chairman said.

Two of the three multibillion-dollar payment mergers announced in 2019 closed this week, and these global giants must now fend off the invigorated fintechs eager to nab unhappy merchant and bank clients.

If Bank of America had decided a few years ago to end its joint venture with First Data, it would have been looked upon as just another instance in which a bank was either planning to handle its own payments in-house, or turning those tasks over to a processor.

To address users’ privacy concerns, secure data and avoid litigation or fines while delivering a competitive customer experience, financial institutions must adopt a customer digital identity and access management (CIAM) strategy, says ForgeRock's Ben Goodman.

Community banks shouldn’t wait for the Fed to create a new real-time payments rail when consumers are already flocking to other options.

The Fed's involvement will inject competition into the market and offer merchants choice as they weigh their payments acceptance options, argues John Drechny, CEO of the Merchant Advisory Group.

Long overshadowed by food delivery startups such as Uber Eats and on-demand delivery service players such as Postmates, delivering fuel to a consumer’s vehicle is a convenience service that is growing in the U.S. and other markets.

Bitcoin Hyper is working with a Latin American payment processor to bring acceptance of its high-speed cryptocurrency to multi-channel payment terminals and mobile apps in the U.S. and Latin America.

Two weeks after lawmakers grilled a Facebook exec over its crypto plans, they acknowledged there are benefits from digital currency technology and urged U.S. companies to take the lead.

While traditional payment processors conquered bitcoin in the first battle, the disruptive potential of blockchain technology remains a potent threat and incumbent payment processors should prepare for a healthy new challenge.