Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

Federal authorities on Tuesday announced 11 people from the U.S. and at least four other countries have been charged with numerous crimes stemming from computer intrusions at major retailers that resulted in the theft and sale of 40 million credit and debit card numbers. The vast scheme, with charges originating …

The growing market in DVD rentals from vending machines became more competitive this week when video-rental icon Blockbuster Inc. announced a deal with NCR Corp. in which the maker of ATMs, other banking hardware, and kiosks this quarter will begin deploying the first of what it expects could be 10,000 …

NACHA, which late last week extended by six months the deadline for banks to start processing a new automated clearing house transaction type representing payments flowing into and out of the U.S., says it decided to grant the extension so that financial institutions and their vendors will have more time …

A revenue-generating proposal that would force merchant acquirers to report their clients' card-based sales to the Internal Revenue Service was signed into law Wednesday by President Bush. The provision, which critics say will impose a costly burden on the entire acquiring business at a time when the industry is under …

U.S. credit card transaction and dollar-volume growth once again played second fiddle to debit, according to the latest financial reports from MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. And U.S. debit and still-strong international growth kept the networks' operating earnings in the black during their quarters ended June 30, although a one-time …

Amazon.com Inc., the nation's largest Internet retailer, became a larger force in the online-payments market on Tuesday when it unveiled two services that give merchants and consumers more alternatives to eBay Inc.'s PayPal and Google Inc.'s Google Checkout, not to mention the general-purpose credit cards. Both services, dubbed Checkout by …

This article begins a six-part series by industry analyst Steve Mott that examines the growing economic tensions and structural conflicts that are drawing the acquiring side of the card processing business into a sustained battle with card issuers. Five Digital Transactions News installments assess the divergent impacts of this conflict …

Mobile-payments processor Obopay Inc., which is increasing its fee to send money to 25 cents from 10 cents effective Aug. 7, says it has not had complaints from users despite the more than doubling in the transaction price. “We're pleased we got it right,” says Gregory Holmes, president of Obopay …

A significant minority of financial institutions may not be ready to implement a new application for international automated clearing house payments by next March, even though that's when all banks will have to start supporting it, according to research published this week. The new application, known as International ACH Transactions, …

Some observers speculated that the point-of-purchase, or POP, electronic-check code would go “pop” after the supposedly more merchant- and consumer-friendly back-office conversion (BOC) code debuted in March 2007, but the latest automated clearing house volume numbers show otherwise. POP posted 115.3 million transactions in the first quarter, up 48.7% from …

Innovative Card Technologies Inc., a 15-year-old maker of high-tech bank cards, expects to have pilots under way with U.S. financial institutions by the end of September for its primary product, a credit-card-sized device that generates a one-time pass code for online transactions. Steven R. Delcarson, chief executive of the Los …

Lending took a bit out of travel-and-entertainment card leader American Express Co.'s second-quarter profits, but discount revenue still grew. Meanwhile, Fifth Third Processing Solutions outperformed its struggling parent company, and USA Technologies Inc. reported that transactions on its network of unattended machines more than doubled while sales of contactless card-reading …

Second-quarter earnings reports from Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. show strong online-banking growth at both giant institutions. BofA also reported today that its base of active bill-payment accounts is up nearly 15% from mid-2007. But subjectivity could be an element in the numbers as banks try …

With an estimated 11 million point-of-sale terminals still in place in the U.S. processing card transactions on dial-up connections, processors and merchants are seeking ways to convert these devices to broadband without taking on the costs of replacing them. The latest is Transaction Network Services Inc., a Reston, Va.-based company …

International Merchant Services Inc., which has taken on all new senior management over the past 11 months, is launching a new marketing blitz this week whose underlying message might be characterized as impatience with the electronic transactions business. Hoping to accelerate the progress of promising payment technology that for a …

The struggle over the controversial Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) continues. Late last month, H.R. 5767, which blocked implementation of the UIGEA, was defeated in the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. Meanwhile, a new bill related to online gambling was introduced this week by U.S. Rep. …

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the controversial Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 on Wednesday on a 19-16 vote, but with a significant change. The marked-up bill no longer includes a provision that would have established a three-judge panel to arbitrate interchange pricing should merchants and the bank …

PayPal Inc.'s multiyear campaign to build up the share of transactions it processes from Internet merchants rather than auction sellers has paid off in a steady rise in non-auction volume to the point that online merchants now account for very nearly half of the processor's total volume, excluding its gateway …

Select-A-Branch, the multibranded surcharge-free ATM network, reported on Tuesday that it has completed installation of 10 machines in Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway stations, but its growth train won't stop in Boston. “Look for us in some major airports,” Dan Stechow, chief operating officer of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Select-A-Branch …

A startup that lets consumers use their credit cards to make mortgage payments and meet other credit obligations online is talking to lenders about including its payment service when consumers close on loans. Because the service doesn't charge billers for payments, company officials expect the tie-ins will carry considerable appeal …