Spectra Technologies’ S1 Line
Hong Kong-based Spectra Technologies, the 23rd largest POS terminal manufacturer worldwide, has launched three Android-based devices—the S1, S1 Plus and S1 Self-Service Kit (S1 SSK). All three use similar, phone-type hardware. S1, the base model, is a small handheld device that can be combined with peripherals.
M&A Activity in Merchant Processing and Acquiring—2022
There were 122 merger and acquisition (M&A)transactions in the merchant processing and acquiring sector of the payment card industry during 2022. Those deals occurred in 34 countries. There were 43 deals in the US, 37 in Europe, 25 in Asia-Pacific, 7 in the Middle East and Africa, 7 in Latin America and 3 in Canada.
Digital Currency Update
Coinbase, a digital currency exchange, reached a $100-million settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services over its AML compliance practices. Of those funds, $50 million will be a penalty and the remaining $50 million will be spent on compliance.
Payment Card Transactions Projected Worldwide
UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB and Discover/Diners Club—the global network cards—are projected to generate 891.20 billion transactions in 2027, an increase of 42.3% over 2022. This is a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% per year.
Equinix Digital Infrastructure
In business since 1998, Equinix operates 240 data centers worldwide in more than 70 metropolitan areas in 32 countries. It provides secure, low-latency network support services to stock markets, payment card networks, central banks, national payment systems, Tier 1 banks and other clients.
Jifiti’s White Label BNPL Platform Adds B2B
Over the last decade, dozens of buy now, pay later (BNPL) specialists worldwide have focused on signing merchants as distribution channels for their consumer lending businesses. Growth has been explosive, and BNPL fintechs attracted eager investors.
Domestic-Only Credit and Debit Cards Worldwide
There are over 90 general purpose card brands worldwide that operate only in their native country. These cards can be debit or credit. Collectively, they generated $516.05 billion in purchase volume in 2021.
CompoSecure Offers New Card Products
Best known for manufacturing metal cards that issuers offer to affluent individuals, including the American Express Centurion and Platinum cards and the Delta SkyMiles Amex co-branded card made of recycled airplane aluminum, CompoSecure will launch two new products in 2023.
Thales Voice Payment Card with Bluetooth
In recent years, manufacturers of payment cards have created products that offer blind and visually impaired cardholders more comfortable ways to facilitate transactions. These products relied on tactile innovations in the standard payment card form.
Global Brand Card Acceptance Locations
The largest global networks of merchant acceptance locations belonged to Visa and Mastercard at the end of the third quarter of 2022. Both can firmly identify more than 80 million in-store and online outlets and micromerchants that use smartphones or handheld tablets to accept card payments.