Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

With Bitcoin ATMs now having been deployed in scores of locations around the world, merchants are starting to see how the machines could potentially drive traffic and sales—especially with a younger, hipper clientele. The latest merchant to install Bitcoin machines is Locali Conscious Convenience, a three-store deli and convenience-store chain …

Operation Choke Point, a U.S. Department of Justice effort to shut down fraudulent merchants by going after payment companies that provide network access, shows no signs of going away any time soon, despite growing merchant and processor frustration with the initiative. Earlier this month, that frustration gave rise to a …

One of the most unusual auctions ever is scheduled for Friday, but the event is largely shrouded in mystery. Beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern and continuing for 12 hours, the U.S. Marshals Service will take sealed online bids for 29,657 Bitcoins that the FBI seized in its bust last October …

The startup that popularized a cloud-based approach to mobile payments using near-field communication (NFC) on Monday opened to card issuers and mobile-application providers a developer platform that could make it cheaper and easier to include digital cards in mobile apps. The platform, from Austin, Texas-based SimplyTapp Inc., offers tools specific …

  Rumors from the past few years that Amazon.com Inc. was building a smart phone bore fruit Wednesday when the online retailer revealed the Amazon Fire, a mobile device built to ease the mobile commerce experience on its Web site. It may herald another way to shop Amazon, but it …

Small businesses using Vend Ltd. point-of-sale systems and a mobile-payment acceptance app from Flint Mobile Inc. can now link payment data from these services to their QuickBooks Online accounts. Vend is a New Zealand-based company that markets a POS system that works on desktop computers, Apple computers, and the iPad. …

Alternative payment network Dwolla Inc. has added Dwolla Direct, a method for individuals and organizations to send a payment via the network without registering for a full Dwolla account. Instead, they complete an online form that asks for an e-mail address, password, and bank account information. The process takes place …

By Jim Daly n The surcharge-free Allpoint ATM network will begin offering deposit-taking services to customers of U.S. member financial institutions at 2,500 ATMs in 7-Eleven Inc. stores and other locations, Allpoint owner Cardtronics Inc. said Wednesday. n The deal represents a new way for Cardtronics, which owns or operates …

Two retailer organizations dissatisfied with a $5.7 billion settlement of a class-action antitrust case alleging unfair credit card interchange rates have filed the next step in their appeal of the settlement. The National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association said Monday they filed a joint brief with the …

With its abrupt move over the weekend to discontinue mobile remote capture of checks, PayPal Inc. has puzzled payments experts and vexed at least some users. Some PayPal devotees took to Twitter on Sunday to post their reactions, which were generally negative. “I was told today you all won't be …

Payment-gateway services provider Digital River Inc. announced Monday that it is adding Bitcoin as a payment option for its small and mid-sized U.S. e-commerce merchants. The Minnetonka, Minn.-based firm thus apparently becomes the first U.S.-based gateway to support the leading virtual currency. n “Bitcoin continues to attract more mainstream attention,” …

The conversion of U.S. magnetic-stripe credit and debit cards to the Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip card standard is about to shift into high gear, and the payments forecasters are busier than their counterparts at The Weather Channel just before a hurricane’s landfall. The EMV Migration Forum, an affiliate of the Princeton …

  The debut this summer and later in the year of chip cards for cardholders of Walmart and Sam’s Club branded credit cards likely will spur other retailers to accept the new payment card technology. That’s the finding from a Digital Transactions News survey that asks if the issuance of …

The technology to deposit checks into prepaid cards or mobile wallets using a smart phone is less than two years old, but already the channel is proving to be 33 times more prone to fraud than mobile deposits into bank accounts, according to data from Fidelity National Information Services Inc. …

Transactional credit providers have been few and far between. Bill Me Later launched 14 years ago and was snapped up by eBay Inc. in 2008. BillFloat Inc. started up four years ago and has changed its name to Better Finance Inc. It’s a challenging business requiring close attention to funding costs and …

The parent company of major prepaid card issuer The Bancorp Bank on Wednesday disclosed that the bank had entered into a consent order with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that places restrictions on its dealings with independent sales organizations. The order also prevents the bank in some instances from issuing …

Recurring billing is now available from Amazon Payments, putting the online payment service from Amazon.com Inc. on more equal footing with competitors that already offer the feature. n And when consumers update their payment cards, such as to replace an expired card, the update applies to payments made to merchants. …

EBay Inc. confirmed on Monday that David Marcus, president of its PayPal Inc. unit, is leaving to take a job at social-network giant Facebook Inc. John Donahoe, chief executive of eBay, will run PayPal until a successor is found for Marcus, who will remain at PayPal until the end of …

Best known for providing wireless card payments for vending machines and unattended locations such as coin laundries, USA Technologies Inc. (USAT) is challenging Square Inc. and other mobile-payments providers in a move to get more mileage out of its specialty processing system. After introducing its mobile services last year, the …

  Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will be among the first retailers, if not the first, to offer store-branded credit cards with Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chips when its new cards bearing a MasterCard Inc. logo are issued this month. That’s well in advance of an October 2015 deadline from the major card networks …