First Data to Expand Mobile Bandwidth via Gyft Buy (July 30, 2014)
First Data has announced it will acquire digital gift card provider Gyft Inc.
First Data has announced it will acquire digital gift card provider Gyft Inc.
Facebook is shuttering its electronic gift card service after nearly two years, shifting its focus to more recent e-commerce initiatives.
Blackhawk Network and Amazon today announced they are providing consumers with ways to spend and better manage their gift cards (from dozens of major retailers and restaurants) using the Amazon Wallet app.
The FDIC has clarified its previous guidance related to the DOJ’s Operation Choke Point, which encourages financial institutions to scrutinize payment processor clients that process payments for certain types of businesses.
Employees and former employees of 16 McDonald’s restaurants across Pennsylvania have filed a class action lawsuit against the restaurants’ owners for violating the law when they allegedly failed to provide a method of receiving wages other than on a payroll card.
Financial technology investment by major venture capital firms more than tripled between 2009 and 2013, a new study found.
Payments processor Stripe Inc. has ventured into the Asia-Pacific region by launching its services last week in Australia.
Government-funded prepaid cards continue to grow steadily, with agencies at the U.S. federal, state and local levels using prepaid to disburse benefit funds, tax refunds and other payments.
New restrictions on campus debit cards being considered by the U.S. Department of Education have the potential to be too far-reaching and severely limit students’ access to financial services, according to more than 40 U.S. lawmakers—senators and congressman, Democrats and Republicans.
Apple could finally be preparing to make its long-awaited debut in the mobile wallet sector.
PayPal is launching its Working Capital program in the U.K. this fall for select small to midsize business customers, offering cash advances against their future sales.
Mobile payments provider LoopPay has secured funding from global payments firm Visa as it pioneers a technology that capitalises on the installed base of magnetic stripe-reader point-of-sale systems rather than NFC, which is the current favourite in mobile payment circles.
London Underground, DLR and Overground trains are to accept contactless payments, following an announcement from Transport for London. The decision comes as mobile operator EE sets out plans to support NFC payments on London Underground, the UK’s biggest building society begins issuing contactless cards to its customers, and Apple explores cooperation with Visa on a potential new mobile wallet.
Italian financial infrastructure company SIA has inked a deal with mobile commerce provider Swish Payments to support mobile payments in Africa and Europe. The two firms claim the deal will help to bring more efficient forms of payment to both regions.
Standard Chartered has launched a mobile wallet in the Philippines through a partnership with Globe Telecom, in a deal that will tap into demand for mobile money in one of the world’s strongest remittances markets.
Leading payments lawyer Judie Rinearson calls N.Y.’s proposed “BitLicense” rules comprehensive, but are they so comprehensive they’ll chill virtual currency businesses in the state? Give us your opinion in Pay Poll.
Analyst Rick Oglesby posits that what’s happening outside of payments will actually have a bigger impact than what’s happening inside payments. Crazy or on point? Read and decide.
The mobile wallet is having a transformative effect on people’s lives in developing countries, bringing safer, faster, easier financial services to the people who need it most
The Network Branded Prepaid Card Association announced today that Doug Bower will join the association as executive director and president, effective August 5, 2014.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the legislation born from the economic crisis a half-decade ago, turned 4 years old this week. The shockwaves from the law, which has significant impact on the prepaid industry, likely will be felt for years to come.
Raphaels Bank and the U.K. Post Office have joined to launch a new prepaid MasterCard.
The American Lawyer has ranked Paul Hastings LLP atop its 2014 A-List of most successful U.S. law firms.
Amazon has launched a new mobile wallet app for managing and redeeming gift and loyalty cards.
New York State’s Department of Financial Services is seeking public comment on a recently proposed “BitLicense” regulatory framework for digital currency businesses in the state.
The Reserve Bank of India recently issued draft guidelines for companies seeking bank licenses in two niche banking categories: payments banks and small banks.
Mobile photo sharing and messaging app Snapchat might be seeking to move into payments.
As Google Wallet continues to experiment, the latest evolution adds a new gift card management function and removes fees on debit card-based P2P money transfers made via the wallet.
Payment systems provider ACI Worldwide announced today it will acquire U.K.-based fraud prevention solutions provider Retail Decisions (ReD) in an all-cash purchase of $205 million.
The boundary between social media and commerce continues to blur, with a pair of announcements from two major tech companies accelerating the convergence of shopping and socializing online.
Green Dot Corp., a Pasadena, Calif.-based provider of prepaid debit card products and reloading services, is discontinuing the MoneyPak PIN method of reloading cards, moving fully to the card swipe reload process, according to a written statement provided yesterday at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
The CFPB wants to expand its Consumer Complaint Database to enable consumers to provide a narrative with their complaints about financial services.
The battle for space at the online checkout counter continues as Visa Inc. unveils a new service to enable e-merchants to add a one-click purchase button to shopping Websites and apps.
The merchant plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Board of Governors have been granted another extension to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
Mobile NFC services continued to expand in 2013 but the big question is, will this be amplified or disrupted by the introduction of host-based card emulation (HCE) into mainstream operating systems?
Current account holders in the UK are switching between banks more often than before – but with some customers struggling to see the difference between banks, more needs to be done to make switching worthwhile.
Chuck Harris has been named senior executive vice president of TSYS, and he will take over the reins of TSYS-owned GPR and payroll card provider NetSpend, effective July 31, as CEO Dan Henry is leaving the company after serving in the executive role since 2008.
eBay Inc.’s Braintree payments unit has unveiled a new software development kit (SDK), marking Braintree’s first major upgrade since being acquired by eBay in an $800 million deal last year.
Chinese postal network China Post will make a major investment toward building a mobile and online payment service.
Consumer spending eased off a bit in June, but remained on an overall path of growth, according to data from First Data Corp.’s latest SpendTrend report.
Milan-based payment processing specialist SIA says that a migration of its systems to the Red Hat Linux environment has led to a 270% reduction in processing times.