A spokeswoman for MasterCard declined to say what prevented her company from expanding merchant descriptors.
At the 2010 World Cup tournament in South Africa, Visa will develop programs to continue expanding merchant acceptance, building member bank relationships, and growing tourism in that country, Visa said.
The new cash infusion will go to hiring as well as expanding merchant and network partnerships through the U.S. and Asia in retail, travel, gaming and digital goods.
"We believe that with their fresh perspective and vision for the company, the prospects for growth at LDH Energy are tremendous as it continues to expand its merchant footprint and grow its asset portfolio".
RewardLoop started commercial trials of the technology in August, and LaPorte says the funding will help it expand the merchant network more aggressively.
Venmo is capitalizing on their first-mover advantage in P2P payments to expand to merchant services, and Klarna is growing steadily through the promise of frictionless and smooth payments — both online and offline.
eBay has been trying to diversify its own business in the meantime, in areas such as promoted listings and other services to expand how merchants and buyers can spend on its platform.
But Rosetta Jones, a spokeswoman for Visa, said: "If there is marketplace demand and our partners are interested in expanding the merchant descriptor, Visa has the capability to enhance what it provides financial institutions with expanded details and character length for use in cardholder statements".
So, it is looking to use payments as a gateway to expand to other merchant services that are also commonplace among larger businesses but are less commonly available for smaller merchants.
