Payment processing

The Instagram social media platform is testing a checkout feature powered through PayPal to provide users the option to purchase goods without leaving the app.

The FIS-Worldpay merger is the largest international payments deal to date, significantly topping the recent Fiserv-First Data merger that turned heads at the beginning of the year. But the FIS deal’s strategic implications could be more interesting than the raw numbers.

The companies could bring something new, such as merchant acquiring to community banks, but their merger could also cause anxiety about giant vendors.

Bank technology giants FIS and Fiserv are spending nearly $66 billion between them in just the past few weeks to add a broad swath of payments technology — including a few key nuggets that will help them go toe to toe with fintechs.

Given the size of the deal — which includes about $9 billion of Worldpay’s debt on top of a $34 billion bid — the pressure’s on to build a global powerhouse that can counter other major fintech mergers announced in the past weeks. FIS must also emerge as a nimble rival to the startups that threaten the old order.

The financial services technology company FIS has agreed to buy Worldpay. The deal is valued at $43 billion and will allow FIS to counter the transaction processing scale Fiserv received when it acquired First Data this year. The merger price is based on a $34 billion bid plus $9 billion of Worldpay's debt.

An overwhelming amount of transactions can cause noncompliant payments to fall through cracks. New technology such as AI can be helpful, says Josephine McCann, a senior marketing associate at AppZen.

Nacha's request to the Fed to extend submission times for its Same-Day ACH network was far from routine for two organizations that had worked together for decades.

The new U.S. Faster Payments Council states a clear mission — to promote faster payments in the U.S. But this new entity could butt heads with the Federal Reserve if it thinks the Fed isn't moving fast enough.

Payments software provider SpotOn Transact is partnering with terminal maker Poynt to provide loyalty, marketing and point-of-sale services in a new terminal for small and medium-size businesses.

In addition to conducting monetary policy and regulating banks, that the EU’s central bank should try to “drive innovation” in payments, writes Eric Grover, a principal at Intrepid Ventures.

The days of odd emails are gone. Phishing has become a complex big business for crooks, according to Rafael Lourenco, an executive vice president at ClearSale.

Jack Henry & Associates has overcome an obstacle that delayed banks and credit union integration with Zelle, with a hub to streamline the onboarding process. But the new system’s first bank doesn’t go live until May, and the hub won’t hit full stride until next year.

After more than two years of successful operation in delivering Same-Day ACH payments, Nacha's request to add a third processing window has been delayed by the Federal Reserve, which says it has to obtain public comment on the concept.

PayPal is expanding its Instant Transfer service beyond debit cards, establishing a service for instant money movement from PayPal accounts to bank accounts.

Our annual Most Influential Women in Payments feature, now in its seventh year, highlights the women who are creating change and opportunities in the payments industry. For the first time, the editors of PaymentsSource have also recognized one woman for lifetime achievement.

First Data’s transformation over the past few years has involved much more than transaction automation, and has relied heavily on the creativity and ingenuity of executives such as Mia Shernoff.

When longtime TSYS finance executive Theresa Gongora was promoted to CFO and senior vice president of TSYS' Merchant Solutions unit last year, she was struck by the dramatic changes in the payments industry since joining TSYS 15 years ago.

Kikelomo Lawal, chief legal officer and corporate secretary for Interac Corp., has helped to drive a seismic shift in how Interac works, which means an evolution of how payments happen for Canadians.

Julie Pukas can blame her innate curiosity about people for her success in the payments industry, where she’s used her keen listening and networking skills to help solve one gnarly problem after another at large organizations.