TSG and the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) surveyed over 500 U.S. SMBs in April to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic is currently impacting SMB operations and payments acceptance, and how the market compares to April 2020.
Download the full 35-page report. The report helps the payments industry understand how to best support the SMB community as they continue to manage the pandemic, while moving towards a goal of greater recovery.
Visa’s revenue for the quarter dropped to $5.73 billion from $5.85 billion a year prior, while analysts tracked by FactSet were modeling $5.56 billion. While the headline financials were down relative to a year earlier, Visa saw payments volume grow 11% in the March quarter, with processed transactions rising 8%. Volume from cross-border transactions, or those made between parties from different countries, dropped 11% in the quarter, or 21% when excluding transactions within Europe. Visa disclosed that fiscal second-quarter payment volume and processed transactions were up 16% compared to the same period in 2019, a data point that the company offered to provide cleaner comparisons to pre-pandemic levels, since part of last year’s March quarter was also impacted by COVID-19.
The payments giant reported earnings of $1.74, better than the consensus of $1.55, and revenues at $4.2 billion, better than the $3.97 billion that had been expected. Gross dollar volume grew by 8 percent on a local currency basis to $1.7 trillion. Similar to Visa, cross-border volumes declined by double digits, though at a pace improved compared to past quarters in the pandemic. In the most recent quarter, cross-border volumes were down 17 percent. Supplemental materials released by the company showed that gross dollar volume was markedly higher in the U.S. versus the rest of the world, up 14 percent versus 5 percent, respectively.
Shares of Shopify jumped as much as 11.4% on Wednesday after the Canadian company, which makes tools for companies to sell products online, reported first-quarter results that crushed analysts’ expectations. For the first quarter, Shopify posted revenue of $988.6 million, which was up a whopping 110% compared with a year prior and trounced consensus estimates of $862.7 million. Adjusted earnings per share were $2.01, more than triple Wall Street’s projected 75 cents per share. Shopify’s net income was boosted by a $1.3 billion unrealized gain on its investment in online payments company Affirm, which went public in January.
Back in March, Paya Holdings Inc. chief executive Jeff Hack indicated his company is eager to build out vertical markets for its processing services, and on Monday it announced a deal that will do just that for Paya’s ambitions in the health-care and non-profit markets. Atlanta-based Paya said it has acquired Paragon Payments Solutions, a 26-year-old company based in Tempe, Ariz. Details of the transaction were not released, though Paya’s announcement said the company expects to discuss the deal further during a conference call next month to discuss first-quarter performance.
Two trade groups representing businesses in North Dakota filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Federal Reserve, asking the agency to lower its 10-year-old cap on “swipe” fee banks charge to process debit card transactions. The lawsuit, filed by the North Dakota Retail Association and the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association in U.S. District Court in Bismarck, North Dakota, argues that the agency failed to follow instructions outlined by federal law and said it should abandon the rule that caps those fees at 21 cents for cards from the largest U.S. banks.
Only about half of major U.S. gas station merchants expected to meet a deadline this month for installing payment systems that accept credit and debit chip cards, and those who didn't will now shoulder the expense of any counterfeit fraud at those pumps. After surveying merchants that represent about 45,000 gas stations nationwide, payments software company ACI Worldwide reported this month about 48% expected to have chip card readers across all of their pumps by April 17, a deadline for installing the new technology standard developed by the big card companies Europay, Mastercard and Visa (EMV).
Over the last few months, PayPal has been quietly gearing up for its expansion in China. At the recent Boao Forum for Asia, China’s answer to Davos, the American payments giant said its strategy for China is not to challenge the duopoly of Alipay and WeChat Pay. Instead, it wants to focus on cross-border business and provide gateways both for Chinese merchants to sell overseas and for Chinese consumers to pay for foreign goods.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday the company will build new features starting with Instagram for content creators to earn money from recommending products on the app and a marketplace to help connect brands with influencers. While speaking with Adam Mosseri, head of Facebook-owned Instagram, during a livestreamed video, Zuckerberg also said the social network will launch "creator shops" as part of the ecommerce push.
US digital banking startup Current has tripled its valuation to $2.2 billion off the back of a $220 million Series D funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. Tiger Global Management, TQ Ventures, Avenir, Sapphire Ventures, Foundation Capital, Wellington Management and Expa joined the round, which sees Current's valuation jump from $750 million at its last raise just five months ago.
In case you needed a sign cryptocurrency has gone mainstream, here it is. PayPal users in the US can now link their accounts to Coinbase to make it easier to buy digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. Previously, funding those purchases often meant using a debit card or a more time-consuming method like a wire transfer. With today's update, Coinbase says you can fund your purchases "instantly." It also means there's one less platform with your debit and bank account information. To link your PayPal account to Coinbase, look for the "Add a payment method" option when you're buying a cryptocurrency within the app.
FedEx Corp. and Adobe Inc. are teaming up in a deal aimed at helping retailers meet e-commerce demand and compete with online heavyweights such as Amazon.com Inc. by sharing data across digital sales and distribution networks. Adobe is integrating FedEx’s recently acquired ShopRunner e-commerce service, which provides expedited delivery from more than 100 merchants, with the software provider’s digital commerce platform, the companies said Tuesday. The agreement will help businesses that sell on Adobe’s platform offer free two-day shipping and other services, such as easy returns.
There has been yet another development in the legal battle between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple over the sale and classification of cryptocurrency XRP. The SEC recently delivered a letter to the presiding judge objecting to a motion that would prevent the regulator from asking foreign authorities for data relating to the transfer of XRP to crypto exchanges based outside the US. Without this information, which Ripple claims it does not itself possess, the SEC cannot establish a timeline that may show Ripple deliberately executed a marketing strategy designed to lift the price of XRP.
Financial institutions (FIs), such as banks and insurance providers, are reporting significantly increased threat levels from COVID-related cyber crime according to new research by BAE Systems Applied Intelligence, the cyber and intelligence arm of BAE Systems. A huge jump in new pandemic-related threats, alongside a rise in challenges caused by enforced work from home guidance, is leaving open and insecure gaps in FIs’ networks.
Some of the world’s top tech firms are backing a new industry task force focused on disrupting cybercriminal ransomware gangs by limiting their ability to get paid, and targeting the individuals and finances of the organized thieves behind these crimes.
In a 81-page report delivered to the Biden administration this week, top executives from Amazon, Cisco, FireEye, McAfee, Microsoft and dozens of other firms joined the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Europol and the U.K. National Crime Agency in calling for an international coalition to combat ransomware criminals, and for a global network of ransomware investigation hubs.
Economic activity boomed to start 2021, as widespread vaccinations and more fuel from government spending helped get the U.S. closer to where it was before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Gross domestic product, the sum of all goods and services produced in the economy, jumped 6.4% for the first three months of the year on an annualized basis. Outside of the reopening-fueled third-quarter surge last year, it was the best period for GDP since the third quarter of 2003.
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped by 13,000 last week to 553,000, the lowest level since the pandemic hit last March and another sign the economy is recovering from the coronavirus recession. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims were down from 566,000 a week earlier. They have fallen sharply over the past year but remain well above the 230,000 weekly figure typical before the pandemic struck the economy in March 2020. The four-week moving average, which smooths out weekly gyrations, fell 44,000 to 611,750.
May require account to read. The euro-area economy slid into a double-dip recession at the start of the year as strict coronavirus lockdowns across the region kept many businesses shuttered and consumers wary to spend. Reports from some of its biggest members show how far behind the European Union is in recovering from the pandemic amid a slow vaccine rollout. Output in the 19-nation euro area was down 0.6% in the first quarter and declined at nearly three times that pace in Germany.
Financial technology leader FIS® announced RealNet™, a new cloud-based, software as a service (SaaS) platform that will enable account-to-account (A2A) transactions for businesses, consumers and governments over real-time payment networks1. The FIS RealNet platform will make it easier for organizations across all industries to send, receive and accept payments, whether they are engaging with a consumer or business, or with their own employees. The platform functions as a “network of networks,” utilizing a full range of existing domestic and cross-border payment rails to simplify and speed up the processing, clearing and settlement of payments.
Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, is enabling businesses of all sizes across a range of industries to support in-demand digital payment options and expand their touch-free payment capabilities via a new relationship with PayPal. Small and mid-sized businesses using Clover® and large enterprises leveraging the Carat omnichannel commerce ecosystem from Fiserv will be able to accept payment via PayPal and Venmo through QR codes presented at the point of sale.
Stripe, a global technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet, announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire TaxJar, a leading provider of sales tax software for internet businesses. Local sales taxes applicable to online commerce have proliferated in recent years, with more than 11,000 different sales tax jurisdictions in the United States alone. For internet businesses, accurately tracking, calculating, reporting, and filing taxes is a large and growing burden.
Square announced businesses can now accept Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments on Square Invoices, bringing convenience and payment flexibility to businesses and their customers alike. ACH payments are an electronic bank payment method that provide a simple and secure alternative to card networks. ACH payment acceptance is another way that Square is meeting the needs of large businesses - particularly those with high ticket items where card processing fees can be cost prohibitive.
Barclays US is joining forces with fintech firm Amount to offer merchants a white label point-of-sale buy now, pay later financing service. As the BNPL market continues to boom, Barclays is hoping to entice merchants with the prospect of letting them use their own brands to "deepen connections with their customers". The service - set to go live with retailers later this year - will be powered by Amount's digital financial services platform, which includes fraud prevention, verification and account management. Barclays has previously invested in Amount.
Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, and Airbnb, a leading online marketplace for lodging and experiences, announced Airbnb Hosts in select markets will be able to access their earnings more quickly. Through Airbnb’s use of Visa Direct[1], Visa’s real-time[2] push payments platform, Hosts will have an option to move money from Airbnb to a bank account associated with an eligible Visa debit card.
Paysafe, announces it has signed a global multi-year agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as part of its strategy to become a fully cloud-based payments provider. Through this collaboration, Paysafe is migrating its broad portfolio of mission critical workloads, including eCash solutions, paysafecard and Paysafecash, and its digital wallets, Skrill and NETELLER, to AWS to develop new cloud-native merchant payment and consumer wallet products for its business and consumer customers.
Celero Commerce, a top 10 non-bank payment processor in the United States, announced the release of Celero Connect, an omni channel payment gateway designed to help manage and grow businesses on a single platform. This initial release is being made available to Celero’s Financial Institution (FI) partners. Connect provides Celero’s FI partners with a solution for their merchants that improves the customer experience and unifies all their points of sale. “Celero Connect makes accepting payments easy, whether they are in-store, mobile, online, or self-service,” said Celero Commerce Chief Technology Officer Charlie Berard.
First American Payment Systems, one of the nation’s leading payment technology companies, announced the appointment of Chris Yurko as Vice President of Integrated Payments. In this newly created role, Yurko will be responsible for growing strategic accounts and partner relationships throughout North America. He also will oversee both the strategy and vertical focus for the sales channel.
The OLB Group, Inc., a provider of cloud-based omnicommerce and payment acceptance solutions for small- and mid-sized merchants, announced that customers using its ShopFast service will have access to new customer analytic capabilities which can improve competitive positioning. ShopFast is the point-of-sale solution within OLB’s OmniSoft™ cloud-based business management platform, which provides merchants with seamless integration across all aspects of business operations.
dLocal, a technology-first payments platform enabling global enterprise merchants to connect with billions of consumers in emerging markets, announced operations in three new countries in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. These countries, along with the region’s other two largest economies, Indonesia and Singapore, have seen significant eCommerce growth due to their expanded digital footprint in the wake of the pandemic.
NCR Corporation, a global enterprise technology provider for the financial industry, and Google Cloud announced a global strategic partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, NCR will expand cloud availability of its Digital Banking software portfolio, including NCR Channel Services for retail banking as well as its card and payments processing platform NCR Authentic.