A new payments group, Facebook Financial, has been formed by the social media conglomerate. Online shopping is up in the midst of the pandemic and Facebook is positioning the company to capitalize on current and upcoming payments and e-commerce opportunities. The group is led by former PayPal president and Libra cryptocurrency co-creator David Marcus. CardLinx Insight: Facebook has long been...

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...

Augeo announced today that it will acquire fellow CardLinx member Empyr. The deal terms were not disclosed. Augeo is a leading digital engagement company and card-linked technology provider to banks. Empyr powers the Yelp card-linked offer program, among other leading publisher platforms. The new company will be called Figg and will have more than 60 million linked cards and $300...

Apple Card announced on Friday that its 3% cash-back card-linked offers at Walgreens would also be valid for drive-thru purchases and on purchases made through the drug retailer’s e-commerce site. Because of Covid-19, merchants are seeing a significant shift in sales to online, and away from in-store. CardLinx Insight: Covid-19 has upended many business models—including those related to card-linked offers....

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...

By Silvio Tavares, CEO, The CardLinx Association At a time like this, when our personal lives and professional lives are unexpectedly upended, it‘s tough to stay optimistic—and not lose sight of unseen opportunities. As we witness the enormous scale of death, sickness and suffering caused by Covid-19, it can be difficult to see the silver lining. But it is often...