Year-over-year growth in payment card usage has provided revenue streams to merchants, service providers and cybercriminals, according to new analysis by the Nilson Report, Arkose Labs and Bluefin. Analysts at all three firms expect these trends to continue into the new year.

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The MPC Digital Commerce Event entered into media partnership agreements with The Green Sheet Inc. and Board Studios Inc. and appointed several key staff members to its growing organization. After pivoting to an all-digital format in 2020, plans are underway to significantly expand the conference's scope, according to Marla Ellerman, executive director at MPC.

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Visa informed merchants that its next round of interchange rate changes won’t take hold until the spring. Bloomberg News reported it had reviewed a document Visa recently sent merchants explaining that the card company will leave most interchange rates intact until April due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on sales. A spokesman for Visa declined to comment.

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Shock reverberated nationwide on Dec. 13, 2020, when the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published an advisory detailing how cybercriminals—identified by U.S. National Security analysts as Russian state-sponsored cyber actors—had breached the highest levels of the U.S. government. Analysts, have said, however, that numerous cyber criminals are on the hunt, creating a new normal of heightened cyber assaults on businesses and governments alike.

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Another big tech company is making a play for payments. GoDaddy Inc., the internet domain registrar and web hosting and marketing company that has been positioning itself as a business platform for online entrepreneurs, wants a piece of the payments pie. The Scottsdale, Ariz., firm just agreed to pay $365 million cash for Poynt, a POS technology firm, and Poynt CEO Osama Bedier comes with the deal.

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The 2020 Payments Summit, held Feb. 24 to 27, in Salt Lake City, seemed a perfect setting for Randy Vanderhoof to announce his retirement after 18 years of leadership at the Secure Technology Alliance and U.S. Payments Forum. Addressing both associations, Vanderhoof said it was time to pass the torch to a new generation of payments leaders.

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ATM industry leader LeRoy Huntimer will long be remembered for his friendly disposition and stewardship of the ATM community. Huntimer, who passed away from cancer on Dec. 9, 2020, was senior vice president, sponsorship services at PB&T Bank and an active participant in industry affairs.

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Mastercard suffered a serious blow in its long-running battle over interchange pricing in the United Kingdom. On Dec. 11, 2020, the UK's highest court, the Supreme Court, ruled that the country's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) must reconsider a class action-style lawsuit filed against Mastercard on behalf of millions of consumers that it CAT had previously rejected.

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For years, the MLS Forum has been a gathering place for The Green Sheet subscribers to pose questions and engage in educational dialogue. Discussion threads have ranged from POS equipment reviews, vertical market opportunities and troubleshooting issues to breaking news and trending topics in the payments industry. And now the forum features updated tools to facilitate engagement.

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Affirm, a San Francisco based fintech company specializing in buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) solutions, is purchasing PayBright, a leading BNPL provider in Canada, for just over $265 million. The combination unites “two innovators with complementary merchant relationships and deeply aligned cultural values, and creates a payment solutions platform with expanded scale and reach,” the two companies said in a statement.

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On Dec. 7, 2020, NYC FinTech Women inducted 50 honorees into the organization's 2020 Inspiring FinTech Females. The second annual award program is designed to recognize women who drive innovation, lead through difficult times and inspire the fintech community, event organizers stated. Judges named winners in five select categories: founders, leaders, money movers, network builders and product builders.

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Gas stations with automated fuel dispensers may have been given additional time to bring their pumps into compliance with EMV protocols, but that doesn’t mean consumers are content with the status quo. In fact, a majority of consumers prefer paying for fuel at EMV-compliant pumps, and better than half would be willing to order and pay for in-store items (like food and drinks) while at the pump, according to a new survey by Transaction Network Services.

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News that Sysnet Global Solutions acquired ControlScan Inc.'s Managed Compliance Solutions (MCS) division was a welcome counterpoint to relentless reports of phishing and web-based attacks against the global business community. While transaction details were not revealed, the companies disclosed Dec. 2, 2020, that after years of collaborating, they will join forces to help service providers and merchants combat pandemic-related threats worldwide.

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Incoming sales tallies for Cyber 5, the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, are a boon for retailers, many of whom have been adversely affected by COVID-19. When Black Friday kicked off retail's peak selling season, consumers flocked to stores as others shopped from the comfort of home screens and connected devices.

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