U.S. federal investigators raided the Florida offices of PAX Technology, a Chinese provider of point-of-sale devices used by millions of businesses and retailers globally. The raid is tied to reports that PAXâs systems may have been involved in cyberattacks on U.S. and E.U. organizations. Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, PAX Technology Inc. has more than 60 million point-of-sale terminals in use throughout 120 countries. Earlier today, Jacksonville, Fla. based WOKV.com reported that agents with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had raided a local PAX Technology warehouse.
Profits at payments giant Visa Inc. jumped in its most-recent quarter, driven by consumers and businesses getting back to spending on their credit and debit cards after the pandemic. The San Francisco-based company said Tuesday that it earned $3.58 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter that ended Sept. 30, or $1.65 a share. Thatâs was up from a profit of $2.14 billion, or 97 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding one-time adjustments, Visa earned $1.62 a share, up 42% from a year earlier. Analysts had been expected $1.55 a share, according to FactSet.
Mastercard Inc. posted stronger-than-expected third quarter earnings Thursday, following similar strength from card rival Visa, as consumer and travel spending rebounded from last year's pandemic lows. Mastercard said diluted earnings for the three months ending in September were pegged at $2.44 per share, up 52.5% from the same period last year and firmly ahead of the Street consensus forecast of $2.19 per share. Group revenues, Mastercard said, rose 30% to $5 billion, just ahead of analysts' estimates of a $4.95 billion tally. Gross dollar volumes were up 20%, the group said, while purchase volumes rose 23%.
Fiserv, Inc. reported financial results for the third quarter of 2021. GAAP revenue for the company increased 10% to $4.16 billion in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the prior year period, with 18% growth in the Acceptance segment, 5% growth in the Fintech segment and 6% growth in the Payments segment. "We posted another strong quarter of double-digit adjusted revenue and adjusted EPS growth as we continue to invest in organic and inorganic growth and demonstrate unmatched execution," said Frank Bisignano, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fiserv.
If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught merchants anything, itâs that they need to take a radically wider sales approach to engage with customers online and offline, across any device, argues a new report from payments provider Square Inc. The report explores some of the ways merchants are using tools from Square to build their omnichannel strategy to meet consumers when they are ready to purchase. Coupons are proving an effective tool for enticing consumers, the report says. In August, 78% of coupons sent through Square Marketing, which enables merchants to quickly create, send, and track email marketing campaigns, were redeemed within a week of being sent, up from about 50% in January.
Facebook said Thursday it's rebranding itself as Meta to reflect the company's focus on building the metaverse, a virtual world where people work, play, learn and connect with their friends and family. Meta will be a new parent company that will preside over Facebook and its services including photo app Instagram, messaging app WhatsApp and its virtual and augmented reality efforts. "In our DNA, we are a company that builds technology to connect people and the metaverse is the next frontier, just like social networking was when we got started," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during Facebook Connect, the company's annual VR and AR conference.
Paytm, one of Indiaâs most valuable startups, is seeking to raise as much as $2.4 billion in what is shaping up to be the biggest initial public offering in the country at a valuation of $20 billion, according to two people familiar with the matter and internal documents seen by TechCrunch. Paytm filed the paperwork for an IPO with the local regulator in July this year. The startup, which has raised more than $3 billion over the past decade and was last valued at $16 billion, said at the time that it was looking to raise about $2.2 billion. In an updated filing this week, Paytm said it is seeking to raise $2.4 billion.
May require account to read. Square Inc. started out in 2009 as a payment-services provider, enabling small businesses to process card payments with inexpensive white card readers and tablets. Since then, the Jack Dorsey-led company has added more services for businesses, a digital-payments service for consumers known as Cash App, a payments platform for artists and a developer platform that plans to build a decentralized bitcoin exchange. Cash Appâs growth exploded earlier this year, partly from a flood of pandemic stimulus payments.
Elavon, the card payments processor owned by U.S. Bank, wants to squeeze its way into the fast-growing buy-now-pay-later business. Elavon, which doesnât offer a BNPL, is âassessingâ how to capitalize in on the new trend, Elavon CEO Jamie Walker said in an interview Friday. Asked whether the company is more likely to build a BNPL offering or buy its way in, Walker said details of Elavon's strategy are being worked out. âI think itâs going to be a combination of both,â he said. âI would anticipate at a minimum some partnerships to get us going.â
Brazilian FinTech Nubank, which is backed by Warren Buffettâs Berkshire Hathaway, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Bloomberg reported Wednesday (Oct. 27). Nubank is expected to have a valuation topping $50 billion, and the listing is anticipated to take place in December, according to the report, which cited unnamed sources. Negotiations are ongoing, and details could change.
PayPal is not looking to buy Pinterest, the digital payments company said Sunday, following reports that it was exploring yet another big-ticket acquisition. In a succinct statement made "in response to market rumors," PayPal said it's "not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time." Shares in PayPal gained 6.7% in premarket trade on Monday, while Pinterest dropped 12% ahead of the open.
The upcoming holiday shopping season promises to be one for the record books despite supply chain problems, according to a new forecast. Holiday sales during November and December will rise between 8.5% and 10.5% over 2020, totaling between $843.4 billion and $859 billion, the National Retail Federation said Wednesday. The forecast which excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants, compares with a previous high of 8.2% in 2020 (to $777.3 billion) and an average increase of 4.4% during the past five years. âThe outlook for the holiday season looks very bright,â said NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz.
McDonaldâs said Wednesday it has entered a strategic partnership with IBM to develop artificial intelligence technology that will help the fast-food chain automate its drive-thru lanes. As part of the deal, IBM will acquire McD Tech Labs, which was formerly known as Apprente before McDonaldâs bought the tech company in 2019. McDonaldâs didnât disclose financial terms for either transaction.
Sweetgreen on Monday became the latest restaurant company to go public with its long-awaited move onto the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SG. First launched in 2007 in Washington, D.C., the healthful fast-casual concept has grown to 140 units in 13 states. Now based in Los Angeles, Sweetgreen boasts an average unit volume of $2.5 million, the company said in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Pinterest and TikTok are the alternative way to traditional online shopping that Gen Z plans to use. Two-thirds of Gen Z shoppers have turned to these alternatives to make purchases over the last year. And 68% plan to use these non-traditional channels for Black Friday and Christmas shopping, according to Brightpearl.com. Among non-traditional shopping channels, Instagram is the most popular among Gen Z, with 47% planning to use the platform this holiday season. Thatâs followed by Facebook (40%), Amazon Alexa (35%), Pinterest (32%) and TikTok (29%), Brightpearl.com found.
Walmart, the worldâs largest company by revenue, is letting customers buy bitcoin at dozens of its U.S. stores. Shoppers can purchase the cryptocurrency at Coinstar machines inside the retailerâs cavernous big box stores. A CoinDesk editor verified that the service works, buying a small amount of BTC at a Pennsylvania Walmart on Oct. 12. âCoinstar, in partnership with Coinme, has launched a pilot that allows its customers to use cash to purchase bitcoin,â Walmart communications director Molly Blakeman told CoinDesk.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking into Visaâs relationships with large FinTechs, citing antitrust concerns, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. The investigators are concerned about financial incentives Visa gave to PayPal, Square and Stripe, looking into whether those payments were keeping the companies from using other card networks or money movement technologies beyond Visa, according to the report. Visa is the U.S.âs biggest card network, and it, along with rivals like Mastercard, have been squeamish about activity from competitors, the report stated. FinTech firms must pay fees that Visa sets to send transactions over its rails â a model which other big networks also use.
May require account to read. Dozens of trade groups representing banks and other industries urged the White House to dump a plan that would require financial institutions to report new customer account information to the IRS. The proposal, which lawmakers are considering to boost tax revenue and help pay for the Biden administration's social spending package, would direct banks to report annual customer inflows and outflows in accounts where such money flows exceeded $10,000.
The EMVÂŽ Contact Chip Specification, managed by global technical body EMVCo, now supports Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC). Use of this cryptography standard by the payment community can enable enhanced security without impacting technical performance of a payment device or slowing transaction processing time. The inclusion of ECC is required to support new, future payment scenarios. In an EMV contact chip payment, the merchant point-of-sale terminal can cryptographically authenticate a card and its data.
American consumers are feeling good again. Supply chain issues and sky-high inflation have done little to knock consumer confidence as people plan to spend big on big-ticket purchases, such as houses, cars and major appliances. And that's a strong signal that consumer spending will continue through the holiday season and the end of the year. The consumer confidence index rose to 113.8 points in October, beating economists' expectations and reversing a three-month downward trend, according to The Conference Board, which puts the index together.
According to the Amex Trendex, a trend report from American Express, 61% of US consumers surveyed agree holiday plans will look different in 2021 and beyond. As new holiday spending, entertainment, and travel trends emerge, holiday essentials put on hold by the pandemic will also return: 71% of consumers surveyed indicate that they will celebrate the holidays with more family members and loved ones in-person than last year and 38% of consumers surveyed agree they will spend more on the holidays this year in anticipation of a more celebratory season.
The U.S. economy expanded at its slowest clip in over a year in the third quarter, with a reopening surge in activity quickly beginning to fade. The Bureau of Economic Analysis released its first estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product (GPD) on Wednesday.
The slowdown in economic activity coincided with the resurgence in Delta variant-related coronavirus cases in the July through September quarter. Positive impacts from stimulus checks and other economic relief delivered by the government earlier this year also dwindled. And supply chain challenges have capped companies' abilities to keep up with consumer demand.
Klarna, the shopping and flexible payment provider, announced a strategic partnership with Stripe, a global technology company building economic infrastructure for the internet. The partnership will allow millions of businesses running on Stripe to offer Klarnaâs flexible payment options to their consumers. In recent years, consumers around the world have gravitated to popular âBuy Now Pay Laterâ payment options, which allow them to receive products immediately while spreading their payments out over time.
The worldâs leading technology company, Microsoft, has expanded its global payments relationship with Worldpay from FISÂŽ. Worldpay will provide online credit and debit card processing for Microsoft online store fronts including, Xbox, Microsoft Advertising, Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft brands in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. Microsoft has been working with Worldpay in Latin America since 2014, and the expanded relationship will see Worldpay process online payments for the company globally.
American Express, the leading small business Card issuer in the U.S., introduced its new Business Checking account designed for small and mid-sized (SME) businesses. This fully digital Business Checking account offers a secure, high-yield, and low fee digital banking experience with a competitive APY of 1.1% on balances up to $500,000. The checking account connects with existing American Express Credit Cards and comes with a Business Debit Card, the first to be issued in the U.S. by American Express.
Leveraging Bitriseâs mobile development platforms, Paysafe has automated and accelerated the core mobile practices behind its digital wallets Skrill and NETELLER, which provide popular alternative payment methods for millions of users around the world. According to a survey of 2,000 sports bettors which Paysafe conducted in December 2020, three quarters of bettors would change their payment method if it meant a faster payout.
Marqeta announced that the company is partnering with Bill.com, a leading provider of cloud-based software that simplifies, digitizes, and automates complex, back-office financial operations for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), to power new innovative commercial card products for Bill.comâs financial institution customers. âWeâre excited for the opportunity to work with Bill.com to support new modern card issuing capabilities for their financial institution partners, helping their customers to streamline payments and process payments faster,â said Jason Gardner, Founder, and CEO of Marqeta.
âWe delivered solid results in the third quarter with strong growth in recurring revenue streams, higher profitability, and consistent cash generation. Adjusted EBITDA expanded to a multi-year high of 18.5% and year-to-date we have generated over $350 million of free cash flow,â said Michael Hayford, Chief Executive Officer. âMore importantly, we made significant progress in the strategic initiatives that are transforming NCR into a software platform and payments company. Strong demand, diligent execution, and strategic traction should allow us to close out a successful 2021 and provide momentum for 2022.
Gilles Grapinet, CEO of Worldline, said: âThroughout the third quarter, Worldline benefited from steady dynamics in domestic payment transaction volumes, allowing the Group to deliver particularly robust growth well in line with our central scenario for the year. The ongoing trends are expected to continue, paving the way for further acceleration in Q4. As such, we confirm our 2021 objectives, which are now excluding those of the payment terminal business."
PPRO released the 2021 edition of its Payment Almanac. As the global e-commerce landscape grows to be worth an expected $US 6.9 trillion by 2025, consumers expect to make purchases with their preferred payment method. Yet many firms still lack the knowledge, licensing, and technology to conduct local transactions. To help overcome this challenge, PPROâs 2021 Payment Almanac provides comprehensive research on local payment methods, consumer behaviour, e-commerce data, trends and projected market growth for 150+ countries around the world.
Sysnet Global Solutions, a leading provider of cyber security and compliance solutions, announced that it has acquired SecureTrust, a division of Trustwave, to further expand its cyber security solutions and accelerate its market expansion. SecureTrust, a leading provider of Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance, provides innovation and processes for achieving and maintaining compliance and security. SecureTrust has over 20 years of experience providing solutions to customers in over 96 countries and is headquartered in Chicago, IL.
Repay Holdings Corporation, a leading provider of vertically-integrated payment solutions, announced its expanded partnership with Inovatec Systems Corp., a provider of industry-leading, cloud-based lending solutions for all financial institutions. The extended integration between REPAY and Inovatec will streamline the funding process for lenders on the Inovatec system, which will be configured to enable them to instantly fund loans from the same interface they use today.
Lightspeed, the one-stop commerce platform for merchants around the world to simplify, scale and create exceptional customer experiences, announced a new flagship eCommerce product built on the integration of its acquisition of Ecwid, a leading, global eCommerce platform. This launch is an important step in providing retailers a powerful, flexible, and unified offering for eCommerce and omnichannel solutions.
UnionPay International (UPI) and Russian Standard Bank recently announced the growing list of Russian merchants who are now accepting UnionPay cards for online payments, with five new additions in July, offering added choice and convenience for the 3.3 million UnionPay cardholders in Russia. At the end of this year, it is also planned to add Wildberries, e-commerce platform, and Apple Store for Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, and more.
Leading dispute technology specialists, Chargebacks911, announces the appointment of fintech workhorse and strategic leader, David Jimenez, as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). In his new role, David will be responsible for expanding Chargebacks911âs footprint and go-to market strategy, further aligning the business to meet the growing demand for back-office automation technology in disputes handling, merchant onboarding, and post transaction fraud management.
Cellfie, a mobile payment solution provider from Ant & Bee Corporation, announced the launch of its SoftPOS merchant payment acceptance solution in South Korea, following a partnership with KEB Hana Card (Hana Card). Cellfie teamed up with Hana Card to launch SoftPOS, a technology which turns off-the-shelf Android smartphones into a POS device allowing merchants to accept contactless Visa or Mastercard payments without additional hardware. This will allow customers to make payments by tapping their credit or debit card to the merchants' smartphones.
Simpay is expanding their executive leadership by adding Dan Glazer as Senior Vice President of Direct Sales. âDan is an exceptional addition to our sales leadership team. He understands the complexities of building out a high performing direct sales channel and promoting a healthy, competitive sales culture where everyone thrivesâ, said Lazaros Kalemis, Simpayâs Founder and CEO.
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