Industry News

Xsolla, a global video game commerce company, is partnering with Mastercard Poland to allow gamers to use Pay with Points for in-game purchases. Mastercard cardholders with Alior Bank can redeem loyalty points generated by card spending directly through Xsolla’s Pay Station, which is fully integrated into a customized checkout.

Klarna, an provider of AI-powered BNPL and shopping assistance, is now available to consumers in Canada when checking out on Apple Pay, both online and in apps, with iPhone and iPad on iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 or later.

Nayax, a global payments and loyalty platform, has expanded its collaboration with Discover Global Network to accept Discover, Diners Club International and network alliance cards at payment devices in the EMEA.

Fiserv, the largest US merchant acquirer based on transactions volume, has published a report on consumer spending during the Thanksgiving holiday. On Black Friday, retail sales increased 3.0%. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday they were up 6.7% and 4.0% respectively. Brick-and-mortar purchases accounted for 58% of all retail sales, with sales volume up 4.6% and transactions up 3.0%. Credit represented 64% of card spend at retail compared to 35% for debit, but debit spending growth of 8.9% outpaced credit spending growth of 4.1%.

Blackhawk Network (BHN) has launched Roblox digital prepaid cards in Mexican peso (MXN), available to purchase on Roblox.com/giftcards. BHN already offers cards in the following currencies — USD, CAD, GBP, EUR, AUD, BRL, JPY and CHF.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has published an order establishing supervisory authority over Google Payment Corp. In 2022, after conducting an assessment of its supervision program, the CFPB identified that it was failing to conduct oversight using a specific legal authority to supervise entities posing risks to consumers. While Google Payment Corp. is already subject to CFPB’s enforcement jurisdiction, the CFPB has determined that Google Payment Corp. has met the legal requirements for supervision.

BlueSnap, a global platform orchestration for B2B and B2C businesses, has become a preferred payment partner for Zuora. BlueSnap and Zuora began partnering in 2015. Their collaboration lets global businesses automate payments for subscriptions and recurring billing. Local card acquiring is available in 40+ countries.

Paze, an online checkout service developed by Early Warning Services and offered by participating banks and credit unions, has become available for eligible customers at GNC.com. GNC is a health and wellness brand that sells through company-owned retail locations. Paze combines a consumer's debit and credit cards from participating banks and credit unions into one wallet.

Comenity Capital Bank, which is owned by Bread Financial Payments, will issue the Unity by Hard Rock Mastercard, a credit card that lets cardholders redeem Unity Points at Hard Rock destinations worldwide. Cards are available to US-based loyalty members and can be used internationally.

Mastercard has partnered with Equifax to enhance the fraud management tools it offers to financial institutions, payment service providers, acquiring banks and merchants in Latin America. Tools include Mastercard Identity plus two products from Equifax's Kount Payment Fraud service — Ethoca Alerts and Ethoca Consumer Clarity. Latin America has one of the highest fraud rates globally, with studies showing that merchants are losing upward of 4.6% of their e commerce revenue to payment fraud.

Payroc, a provider of technology for integrated payments, will power the Sunday's new handheld PAX A920 Pro payment terminal for tableside checkout. Terminals support payment cards, mobile wallets including Apple Pay and Google Pay, and flexible bill splitting, with options for digital or printed receipts.

Payroc, a provider of technology for integrated payments, will power the Sunday's new handheld PAX A920 Pro payment terminal for tableside checkout. Terminals support payment cards, mobile wallets including Apple Pay and Google Pay, and flexible bill splitting, with options for digital or printed receipts.

Gr4vy, a cloud-native payment orchestration layer, has added client JustGiving, an online fundraising platform in the UK that supports over 60 forms of cryptocurrency donations.

Lloyds Bank Carnet has become the main card acquiring partner of PayPoint, an omnichannel processor with more than 60,000 small and midsize merchant customers in the UK. The agreement includes Northern Ireland. PayPoint merchants will receive banking services from Lloyds, which also plans to invest in product development and data analytics for PayPoint merchants.

SurgePays, a technology and telecommunications company, has integrated with Landi Global's POS terminals through SurgePays' portal. The portal uses the ClearLine app, which can be used by merchants to manage services such as top-ups and bill payments. They can also add advanced features such as QR codes and NFC-enabled interactions.

Transflo, a provider of mobile, telematics, and workflow automation for the transportation industry, has launched Transflo Wallet Fuel Card in partnership with TransConnect Services, a provider of cash-secured fuel discounts for the trucking industry. There are over 2,000 in-network fuel discount locations and 12,000 affiliated fuel stops in the US. The average savings on diesel is 50 cents per gallon.

Sellers using commerce tools from Block, formerly Square, made 144 million consumer transactions over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday, a 17% increase YOY. Data showed 3:10 a.m. EST on Sunday, December 1 was the peak minute of shopping across the globe. In 2023, it was Saturday, November 25 at 2:17 p.m. EST.

Pax Technology, the third largest POS terminal manufacturer worldwide, is giving payment service providers and acquiring banks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa the ability to offer a “No App, Just Tap” service to their merchants. The service, provided by Pi-xcels, lets consumers who pay on Pax Android SmartPOS terminals receive receipts instantly by tapping their smartphone without needing to provide an email address or use an app or QR code. Pi-xcels is a Singapore-based technology company that specializes in digital receipts. Qualifying Pax terminals have inbuilt card emulation.

Mollie, a financial service and payment provider Europe, has partnered with PayPal to provide support for marketplace platforms under the name Mollie Connect. PayPal is one of the preferred payment options for Mollie's customers. Other payment options offered by Mollie Connect include credit/debit cards, digital wallets, bank transfers and local payment methods. It also supports BNPL and prepaid cards at multi-seller checkout, enabling the monetization of private label prepaid cards in a marketplace setup.

Checkout.com, a digital payments provider, is expanding its direct acquiring services into Japan to provide ecommerce sellers with a greater selection of local currency and payment methods. The move builds on Checkout.com’s launches in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

dLocal, a cross-border payment platform that specializes in high-growth markets, has become a certified Payment Initiation Service Provider in Brazil, authorized by Banco Central do Brasil. The certification lets dLocal facilitate Pix payments directly within Brazil's Open Finance ecosystem, allowing direct payments without redirecting users to bank apps. Pix enables consumers, businesses and governmental entities send and receive payments in seconds. Brazil's Open Finance ecosystem is supported by the country’s top five banks, including Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Itaú, and Nubank, which together represent 92% of the country’s banked population.

Garanti BBVA, a payments provider in Turkey’s payment systems industry, has launched a new platform called Tamī to handle products including multi-bank POS systems and prepaid cards, both designed to for Türkiye’s e-commerce and digital payment sectors. The multi-bank POS system allows customers to pay in installments through different banks. Prepaid cards that can be topped off by any bank are intended for a broader demographic including individuals who are outside the traditional banking system.

Discover Financial Services received a notice from the NYSE on November 19, 2024 that it is not in compliance with Section 802.01E of the NYSE Listed Company Manual as a result of its failure to timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2024 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Discover says it is working expeditiously to file the Restated Financial Statements.

FICO, a provider of predictive analytics and data for decisioning, is partnering with Tata Consultancy Services. TCS will use FICO's platform to improve the efficiency of industry-specific services with analytics, machine learning and AI models. One example is “truck roll” optimization —improving the efficiency of dispatching service vehicles for customer support. Additionally, the partnership will develop services for the telecommunications, media and other sectors, starting with a product aimed at reducing churn, increasing revenue and optimizing cost for service providers.

Spreedly, an open payments platform, and Forter, a fraud prevention platform, have expanded their partnership to offer predictive modeling to merchants. The partnership will use Forter's payment protection and transaction optimization on Spreedly’s platform to drive higher authorization rates and provide actionable insights.