Digital Currency Update
Blockchain.com, a crypto wallet and financial services company, will partner with Stripe to facilitate payments, fight fraud and improve revenue management. Blockchain.com has already used Stripe to facilitate crypto purchases using card payments, and the company expects to add the ability to make crypto purchases using Apple Pay and Google Pay. The company also announced […]
Canada Card Networks and Issuers
Credit, debit and prepaid commercial and consumer cards issued in Canada with American Express, Interac, Mastercard and Visa brands collectively generated 13.81 billion purchase transactions in 2021, up 11.2% from 2020. Purchase volume was $767.05 billion, an increase of 18.6% on a local currency basis. Cards in circulation grew 3.7% to 204.0 million. The purchase […]
Ramp Corporate Visa Cards
The more than 5,000 mostly small and midsized companies that use the Ramp Visa Signature corporate card, which is linked to the company’s finance automation platform, save money through lower expense management and bill payment costs, automated identification of price options and 1.5% cash back on all card purchases. Ramp says that customers save 3.3% […]
CIBC Re-Enters Merchant Acquiring with Pollinate
More than 20 years after selling its merchant acquiring business to U.S.-based Global Payments, CIBC, Canada’s fifth largest bank by market capitalization at $53.3 billion ($68 billion CAD), will return to that business in partnership with Pollinate. The bank has also made an equity investment in Pollinate. CIBC will offer Tyl by CIBC acquiring services […]
Visa Installments for Buy Now, Pay Later
Buy now, pay later installment financing for purchases made online and in-store is becoming a payment option consumers worldwide expect to have, even in markets that offer revolving credit cards. While specialist fintechs that offer BNPL installment payments have been growing rapidly in recent years, the number of consumers with credit and debit cards is […]
Global Brand Cards —Midyear 2021
From January 1 to June 30, 2021, Visa, UnionPay, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club/Discover and American Express brand credit, debit and prepaid cards collectively generated 259.47 billion purchase transactions for goods and services worldwide. This was up 31.9% from the same period in 2020. UnionPay restated downward its midyear 2020 figures from those that we published […]
UnionPay International and Fiserv are Global Partners
The UnionPay International (UPI) subsidiary of China UnionPay plans to grow its business outside of China through a cardholder and merchant processing partnership with Fiserv. The companies signed a contract in October 2021. The partnership will be ready to serve new financial institution and multinational merchant customers later this year. Fiserv is the largest issuer […]
Outseer Fraud Fighting
RSA Security was sold to a consortium led by private equity firm Symphony Technology Group in September 2020. In June 2021, RSA set up its fraud & risk intelligence business as a stand-alone company called Outseer. The new company holds payment authentication, fraud management and account monitoring assets that support digital commerce for financial institutions […]
Digital Currency Update
The Governor of Colorado said that the state will become the first in the U.S. to accept cryptocurrency for payment of state taxes and fees. Local legislators in Arizona and Wyoming drafted similar proposals. Sling, the Dish-owned streaming service, partnered with BitPay to accept cryptocurrency payments including Bitcoin, Ethereum and DogeCoin for its monthly subscription […]
In Memoriam
The Nilson Report was founded by H. Spencer Nilson in Los Angeles in 1970. Spencer passed away this month here in Santa Barbara. He was 101. Our company is a family business. Its executives include second- and third-generation members. In memoriam, we wish to share with you some of our patriarch’s life story. Spencer entered […]