Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

A major deadline set by MasterCard Worldwide to enhance the security of transactions originating at wireless and Internet Protocol point-of-sale payment terminals is approaching, but some in the industry say many firms that could be affected aren't paying attention. On Sept. 1, Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard will require that newly-installed wireless …

Merchants and other businesses that accept checks are adopting electronic truncation?also known as remote deposit capture?so quickly that one expert observer expects the number of installed systems to more than double next year. Indeed, says Bob Meara, a senior analyst at Boston-based researcher Celent LLC, demand for remote capture is …

Relying in part on its recently completed acquisition of Princeton eCom Corp., Online Resources Corp., Chantilly, Va., plans to roll out a real-time expedited payments service for its banking-client base by the first quarter of next year, Matthew P. Lawlor, chief executive of the company, tells Digital Transactions News. The …

Brick-and-mortar merchants?and restaurants in particular?pose the biggest risk when it comes to card-data compromises, while point-of-sale systems based on personal computers as well as those hooked up to broadband connections are at significantly greater risk. That's according to new data released by AmbironTrustWave, a Chicago-based company that performs security audits …

First Data Corp. announced Tuesday that it would process the merchant portfolio affiliated with Puerto Rico-based banking company Popular Inc.'s Banco Popular North America unit. The portfolio provides card-processing services for an undisclosed number of BPNA's 50,000 small-business customers in the United States. Banco Popular had outsourced the file to …

Growth in transaction volume slowed at online payment processor PayPal Inc. in the second quarter, with total transactions for the period reaching 143.3 million, up 27% from the year-ago quarter, according to data released last week by eBay Inc., PayPal's San Jose, Calif.-based parent company. That compares with year-over-year growth …

Direct charges to subscribers' bills and credit and debit cards will account for the bulk of mobile payments in five years, with today's preferred method, short-message-service (SMS) payments, dropping to a minority of transactions, a survey released this week indicates. Only 6% of respondents to the survey, attendees at a …

Large merchants whose card transactions are chiefly derived from physical stores, rather than the Internet, will now face stricter requirements for proving compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, according to an expert observer. With Visa USA this week introducing a revision of the volume bands by which it …

The simmering battle over card interchange, which up to now has been fought mostly in the courts, found a new battlefield in the U.S. Senate Wednesday as opponents and supporters of the controversial fee testified before that body's Judiciary Committee. The occasion was a hearing dubbed, “Credit Card Interchange Rates: …

Processing giant First Data Corp. soon will launch an initiative aimed at furthering its ties with the high-margin sector of the acquiring market controlled by independent sales organizations by offering ISOs a new terminal and unified pricing for all four major general-purpose card brands, sources tell Digital Transactions News. The …

In marketing coup for Discover Financial Services LLC, Dollar Tree Stores Inc. has agreed to accept cards issued on Discover's network exclusively in about 2,100 of its 3,100 stores across the country. The deal, which takes effect immediately, means the Cheseapeake, Va.-based chain, which is part of a fast-growing retail …

Peppercoin Inc., which started out as a processor of so-called micropayments for online content but soon began to embrace small-value point-of-sale transactions, now sees opportunity in both contactless technology and vending markets, its top executive says. “We've set bigger sights for ourselves,” says Mark Friedman, chief executive of the Waltham, …

Discover Financial Services LLC's new merchant-processing pact with leading payment processor First Data Corp. that involves small and mid-sized merchants is just the first of more deals Riverwoods, Ill.-based Discover plans to strike with big merchant acquirers to expand acceptance of the No. 4 card brand while simultaneously reducing costs. …

The product has been available for only two weeks, but Google Inc.'s online payment service has already won considerable favor with at least some Internet merchants and companies that process online transactions. Meanwhile, some analysts caution that even if Google Checkout, the online search giant's name for its long-expected entry …

The business of putting debit cards in bank customers' hands on the spot, at the moment they open an account, is growing rapidly and may soon include prepaid cards and credit cards, according to a supplier of software that controls the process. Dynamic Card Solutions, Englewood, Colo., says it now …

Visa USA Inc. is releasing a security alert in response to an increase in data breaches it has detected among small and mid-sized restaurants. In reviewing data from the last few months, Visa saw “there's been an uptick in incidents from this sector” compared to previous time periods, says Martin …

Flush with new funding, anti-fraud software developer The 41st Parameter this week embarked on the next phase of its growth plan by introducing PCPrint, a component of its fraud-detection technology that the company will offer to vendors, processors, and other firms involved in e-commerce. In fact, Ori Eisen, founder and …

In a sign that check image exchange continues to make steady progress, SVPCO has reported its national network processed 56.5 million items in June, an 11.1% increase over May's volume. Total dollar volume for the month reached $157 billion, up 4% over May. Daily average items, a keenly watched indicator, …

Ebay Inc.'s decision to bar Google Inc.'s new payment product from its massive online auction site doesn't seem to faze the online search company. Indeed, the executive in charge of Google Checkout, which debuted less than two weeks ago (Digital Transactions News, June 29), tells Digital Transactions News Google has …

Of 232 large U.S. merchants identified by Visa USA in 2004 and 2005, some 23% now comply with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI), but 73% are projected to be in compliance by the end of the year “based on progress reports,” says Michael Dahn, president of Volubis Inc., …