Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
• A payment card data breach reported in May by the hamburger chain Wendy’s Co. was much more extensive than originally thought, the company said Thursday, according to Reuters. Wendy’s now says the breach affected approximately 1,025 stores, or about 18% of the company’s U.S. and Canadian units. In May, Wendy’s reported the breach, which first came to light in January, had affected “fewer than 300” stores, or about 5% of the North American chain. At least two entities, including a customer and a credit union, have sued Wendy’s over the breach.
• Gov. Pat McCrory signed an update to North Carolina’s money-transmitter law that the Chamber of Digital Commerce calls “blockchain friendly.” The measure defines the term virtual currency and ensures that non-financial support companies in the digital-currency industry, including software developers and so-called miners, will not need a money-transmitter license.
• Reuters reported that governments of European Union countries approved a new commercial data-transfer pact between the U.S. and the EU; the so-called Privacy Shield, which applies to payments companies as well as many others, strengthens consumer protections and replaces a former deal that the top EU court struck down in the wake of revelations about U.S. spying.
• Convenience store retailer Cumberland Farms said its SmartPay mobile-payment service has saved users $50 million in fuel costs since the app’s launch in January 2013. The app draws payments from a user’s checking account and provides a 10 cent per-gallon discount on fuel purchases.
• Financial Transmission Network Inc. introduced a two-factor authentication module for remote deposit capture and mobile remote deposit capture on its ETran Lite platform, which is used by more than 80 financial-services firms.
• Payments-industry analyst Nick Holland tells Digital Transactions News he has been appointed digital marketing manager for payments at Dunkin’ Brands Inc. Dunkin’ last month completed a nationwide rollout of its On-the-Go Ordering order-and-pay-ahead feature for its mobile-payments app, which the chain introduced in 2012.
