Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

The Shazam debit network on Monday took a step closer to entering the fray for near real-time person-to-person payments with the launch of its Shazam Bolts mobile app. The app, which works on smart phones and tablets running Apple Inc.’s iOS software, will initially enable financial-institution customers to receive alerts …

Prepaid card program manager Green Dot Corp. launched its GoBank mobile-banking application Tuesday. The app gives struggling Green Dot a powerful weapon to fight competitors for underbanked consumers or those simply dissatisfied with mainstream banks, including American Express Co., issuer of the new, low-fee Bluebird prepaid card account for customers …

Citing health reasons, First Data Corp. chief executive Jonathan J. Judge on Friday announced plans to retire. The unexpected retirement casts a cloud of uncertainty over the nation’s largest payment processor as it competes in a fast-changing payments industry and, down the road, prepares for a possible IPO or sale …

  U.S. Bancorp is joining the ranks of banks and tech companies testing near-field communication (NFC) technology by pairing a rewards credit card account with Apple Inc.’s iPhone in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Portland, Ore. The Minneapolis-based banking company is offering new holders of its FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa …

In sharp contrast to only a year ago, independent sales organizations and other merchant acquirers now rank revenue generation as their number-one goal for programs they offer to help merchants comply with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI), according to a survey set to be released on Thursday. The …

The last mile is frequently the hardest part of any journey. The U.S. Treasury Department is wrestling with that phenomenon as it attempts to eliminate its remaining 5 million monthly checks for distribution of Social Security and other federal benefits by a looming March 1 deadline. Treasury’s Financial Management Service …

Atlanta-based InComm, a major provider of plastic gift card programs, will be gaining a bigger presence in the growing digital card market through its acquisition announced on Wednesday of Portland, Ore.-based Giftango Corp. Although both companies are involved in managing plastic and digital gift card programs for retailers, InComm had …

Have the Durbin Amendment’s interchange restrictions cut into debit card revenue at the nation’s smaller financial institutions? In the wake of a spin war touched off on Monday by a merchant-controlled lobbying group, the answer appears to be: It depends on whom you ask. Monday morning, the Washington, D.C.-based Merchants …

While many brick-and-mortar retailers were disappointed with sales for the 2012 holiday season, online merchants posted respectable gains in the mid-teens, according to new reports. Internet usage tracker comScore Inc. reported on Thursday that e-commerce volume hit $42.3 billion in the November-December holiday shopping season, up 13.8% over $37.2 billion …

As we prepare to close out 2012, we thought we’d look back at the year’s major developments and pinpoint the ones that generated our biggest news stories. Here’s our list, arranged chronologically. Not surprisingly, given the events of the year in electronic payments, the list is dominated by mobile-payments and …

A slate of eight director candidates supported by a dissident shareholder group won election on Sunday at a special meeting of shareholders held by On Track Innovations Ltd., a vendor of contactless-payment solutions. The election, which expands the company’s board to 11 directors, hands control over the 22-year-old Israeli company …

Mobile payments are the all the rage in the banking, retailing, and software industries, but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is cautioning banks to keep a short leash on their mobile-payments vendors. The FDIC also warned in a recent report that banks’ role in mobile payments could be reduced as …

The Federal Trade Commission disclosed on Wednesday that it is investigating whether payment card network rules and practices violate the debit card transaction-routing provisions of the Durbin Amendment in 2010’s Dodd-Frank Act. It’s uncertain, however, whether the investigation goes beyond what Visa Inc. said the FTC requested of it in …

In the wake of its path-breaking partnership with PayPal Inc., Discover Financial Services is ready to do more deals with other companies that will add transaction volume or build its acceptance footprint, chief executive David Nelms indicated on Thursday. Nelms also told stock analysts that growth in the Discover-owned Pulse …

While some big banks pull back on debit card promotion, smaller institutions are finding ways to boost usage among customers who have cards but seldom use them. And some are finding out that, perhaps because of the time of the year, charitable appeals may work better than personal rewards. Co-Op …

A knotty problem involving the EMV chip card standard, debit card transaction routing, and the Durbin Amendment may take a crucial step toward resolution next month when the country’s two largest card networks are expected to indicate whether they will support a potential solution proposed by a debit-network group, according …

Leading U.S.-based point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc.’s retreat from its role as merchant acquirer for its Sail mobile-payments platform for micro-merchants last week after only seven months is triggering intense debate among independent sales organizations and payments-industry veterans. The crux of the debate concerns whether processing for tiny merchants …

  New data from the automated clearing house network show that ACH debit transactions for online bill payments grew 9% in the third quarter while paper checks converted into ACH transactions after being mailed to lockboxes decreased by 8%. The story behind the interrelated numbers boils down to the years-long …

Seven months after VeriFone Systems Inc. launched Sail, its mobile-payments platform for micro-merchants, the San Jose-based point-of-sale terminal maker and payments software provider is stepping back from its role as an acquirer for Sail merchants and will instead revert to its traditional role of solutions provider. The announcement from chief …

A federal appellate court has turned down a retailer appeal to review part of the controversial settlement in a massive credit card interchange case, clearing the way for the trial court to move toward final approval. Meanwhile, the Herculean task of notifying millions of merchants about the settlement is getting …