Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

Electronic commerce hasn't been the slam-dunk for the electronic funds transfer networks that it has been for Visa and MasterCard. One of the biggest issues has been if and how to facilitate Internet transactions from PIN-based debit cards issued by the EFT networks' member banks and credit unions. Now Metavante …

The PCI Security Standards Council on Monday introduced a quality-assurance program for the companies that determine whether a merchant, processor, or other entity that touches credit and debit card data meets the council's rules. The Wakefield, Mass.-based council's aim is to ensure more uniform enforcement of the Payment Card Industry …

Kount Inc., a startup that specializes in anti-fraud solutions for e-commerce, is looking for accelerated growth from its alliance with Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, the nation’s largest processor of card-not-present transactions. The agreement, which was signed in September but not announced until this week, gives Kount access to Chase’s merchant …

In what it calls a first for a major oil company, the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc in January plans to offer a PIN-based consumer debit card that uses the automated clearing house network, gives consumers a discount on gas, and costs Shell's retail outlets 40 cents per …

Retail sales are slumping and stores are closing, but the online retailing channel?and thereby online payment transaction volumes?will come through relatively unscathed, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy and Research. Javelin's latest online retail payments forecast predicts Internet retail purchases will total $148 billion this year, up 10.4% …

North American Bancard, one of the nation's biggest independent sales organizations, has established a new division it hopes will help merchants navigate tricky technological waters beyond payment processing, thereby increasing merchant loyalty. Troy, Mich.-based North American says the purpose of its new Alliance Division is to forge relationships with software …

MoneyGram International Inc.'s deal with Cardtronics Inc. to process remittances and bill payments on more than 2,000 sophisticated kiosks Cardtronics operates in 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores may extend MoneyGram's reach, but at least one observer questions whether the service will get the traffic the Minneapolis-based money-transfer company is expecting. “I …

The electronic-payments industry can expect the well-established consumer shift away from credit cards and toward debit and prepaid cards to continue in today's turbulent economic climate, but other changes are afoot as the financial landscape rapidly changes, according to Maynard, Mass-based Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Some of the most significant …

With its $50-million acquisition of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based software house Infonox Inc., TSYS Inc. has become one of a handful of transaction processors that are in the early stages of overhauling and upgrading their acquiring operations to support what many experts view as a coming explosion of volume as new payment …

The rapid deployment of remote deposit capture technology has not been without some hassles and roadblocks, according to US Dataworks Inc., a Sugar Land, Texas-based processor that says it has developed a solution that solves at least some of those problems and paves the way for even more rapid penetration …

A slumping economy appears to have been what scuttled First Data Corp.’s deal to buy prepaid card program manager InComm Corp. The agreement, announced in April (Digital Transactions News, April 29), involved transaction-processing giant First Data acquiring Atlanta-based InComm for $980 million, with a further payout of $250 million over …

Recent U.S Department of Justice demands for documentation about the payment card networks' acceptance rules have the merchant-acquiring industry wondering if the networks are in for another confrontation with antitrust authorities. If so, the issue will involve how much freedom card-accepting merchants should have to seek other forms of payment …

Like the other payment card networks that recently reported their quarterly financials, MasterCard Inc. saw softening volumes in the third quarter. Things worsened in October but, like bank card rival Visa Inc., MasterCard's debit business is holding up much better than credit in what MasterCard president and chief executive Robert …

Banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. and processor First Data Corp. said on Monday they have completed the previously announced split-up of their joint venture called Chase Paymentech Solutions, the world's largest merchant acquirer. The bank-owned Chase Paymentech will focus on alternative payments and geographic expansion with its 51% share …

Debit cards have been growing faster than credit cards for years now in the United States, but they'll be more important than ever for Visa Inc.'s growth in the near term as wary banks rein in lending. With the weakening economy, what had been slow credit card payment growth went …

MasterCard Inc. on Thursday announced a service it sees as a major step toward the ultimate commericialization of contactless payments via mobile phones. Intended primarily for the North American and European markets, the MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisioning Service is aimed at allowing any member issuer to readily personalize a handset for …

In the hunt for a trustworthy partner, a prepaid card issuer and payment card network probably couldn't do better than the Better Business Bureau. That's the theory, at least, behind the new MasterCard-branded TrustCard, a payroll card issued by Palm Desert National Bank that initially is being offered by the …

No. 4 payment card network Discover Financial Services will receive $2.75 billion from Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. through the settlement of a long-running antitrust lawsuit, Discover and the bank card networks announced yesterday. Discover, however, may actually pocket less than one-third of that amount after paying taxes and a …

Canada's financial institutions will start issuing microchip-embedded debit cards by the end of the year, the country's national electronic funds transfer network said on Tuesday. The rollout of chip cards, which follows a year-long pilot of so-called chip-and-PIN technology in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, area, will over the course of four …

While remote deposit capture continues to be one of the fastest-growing electronic payments products ever introduced, banks are still far too conservative in the way they sell the service, says Bob Meara, a senior analyst at Boston-based researcher Celent LLC. That could change soon, though, as resellers such as independent …