Russia’s Financial System Western economic sanctions disrupted Russia’s financial system, with one exception, the WSJ reported. Russian consumers continued to use their Mastercard and Visa cards, even though these two organizations exited the country as the war began. Why? Payments made by these cards issued in Russia aren’t processed via U.S. networks, but rather through a system developed in-country. DCA...

Google Postpones Plans to Remove Cookies to Late 2023 Google’s plan to remove web-tracking cookies from Chrome has generated discord among the competition, regulators, privacy zealots, and the digital-media industry. In response, the Alphabet Inc. unit announced its browser Chrome would delay plans to stop supporting user-tracking technology (third-party cookies) from early 2022 to late 2023 to understand implications better....

[image_with_animation image_url=”20471″ animation=”Fade In” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default”] Visa Acquiring Swedish Open Platform Tink The largest credit card company in the world, Visa, announced its plan to acquire Tink, a consumer-empowering open banking platform, and APIs, for $2.1 billion. The announcement comes after Visa backed out of a $3.5 billion deal to buy Plaid, a Silicon Valley...

DCA Member Collinson Signs Largest US Bank Chase for Airport Lounges JPMorgan Chase is introducing travelers to a new airport lounge: Chase Sapphire Lounge® by The Club. Built and managed by DCA Member Collinson’s Airport Dimensions, this new loyalty offering will elevate the travel experience with a fresh approach to airport lounges. The new lounges will be announced in select...

Luxury Retail Sales Surge as LVMH World’s Largest Upscale Retailer Benefits Defying the pandemic’s drag on the economy worldwide, DCA Member company LMVH 24S is experiencing strong sales and driving record-high share prices across the luxury goods sector. LVMH is the world’s largest luxury company and includes brands such as Louis Vuitton and Tiffany’s. DCA Insight: LVMH has long been considered the...

CardLinx member Collinson launched a service at London’s Heathrow airport enabling passengers arriving from the US to get a free Covid-19 test. A negative result eliminates the government-imposed 14-day quarantine requirement for travelers arriving in the UK on select airlines from select US cities. CardLinx Insight: Collinson is built around delivering meaningful experiences for its clients’ customers—in this case for...

The parent company of CardLinx member 24S of the LVMH Group, the world’s largest luxury retailer, is ending its planned takeover of Tiffany & Company. The government of France requested the deal be delayed on Aug. 31 because of a threat of U.S. tariffs on French goods, as well as coronavirus concerns. CardLinx Insight: The souring of this deal is...

May CardLinx Europe Council Wednesday, May 13th, 2020 Via Zoom Webinar The mission of the CardLinx Europe Council is to create a technical forum for collaboration among European based card issuers, processors, retailers, publishers, card-linked technology providers and merchants to promote the growth of card-linking and online to offline commerce. The Council will focus on discussing current shared technical challenges...

New Clean Way to Pay: Mobile Wallets Surge on Covid 19 Fears Requiring no physical contact with merchant point-of-sale terminals, mobile wallets are increasingly viewed as a safer way to pay by consumers around the world. Fears that payment cards, cash and coins may be tainted with the coronavirus, and that touching in-store terminals might make shoppers sick, the use...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that Germany will start reopening for business on Monday, April 20. Smaller stores up to 800 square meters may resume operations then. Schools will be allowed to reconvene starting Monday, May 4. CardLinx Insight: Germany is the largest economy in Europe. Its decision to ease restrictions is similar to those already made by China and...

CardLinx Europe Council Wednesday, March 18th, 2020 Via Zoom Webinar The mission of the CardLinx Europe Council is to create a technical forum for collaboration among European based card issuers, processors, retailers, publishers, card-linked technology providers and merchants to promote the growth of card-linking and online to offline commerce. The Council will focus on discussing current shared technical challenges and...

Expect the Unexpected in Covid-19’s Wake In the uncertainty that surrounds the coronavirus, Silvio Tavares, CEO of industry trade association Cardlinx, shared perspectives with member executives around the world. Among topics discussed? Travel’s stalled, with hotel occupancy at just 15% and properties slated to close; credit card use is down, impacting the U.S. and other countries where consumer spending accounts...