Choke Point Figure Moves On and other Digital Transactions News briefs

• Juniper Research released a study estimating retailers globally will sustain $71 billion in card-not-present fraud over the next five years. The firm cites the U.S. move to EMV and “delays” in the arrival of the 3D Secure 2.0 protocol among the reasons for the forecasted losses.

• Michael S. Blume, most recently director of the consumer-protection unit at the U.S. Department of Justice and a leader of the government’s controversial Operation Choke Point, has left the DoJ to become a partner at the New York office of law firm Venable LLP.

• Retailer The Buckle Inc. reported that malware planted on some of its point-of-sale systems may have compromised cardholder magnetic-stripe track data between last Oct. 28 and April 14 of this year even though the stores were using EMV chip card-reading technology.

• Data-security services provider Trustwave released its latest report based on reviews of hundreds of breach investigations it conducted globally over the past year. It says 49% of the breaches occurred in North America. The largest single share of incidents involved the retail industry, at 22%, followed by the food-and-beverage sector, nearly 20%.

• Payments provider Clearent LLC said its Quick Chip technology, which is designed to make EMV transactions quicker, is available for PAX Technology devices.

• Patientco, a provider of health-care payments, announced an integration with electronic health records technology from Epic Systems Corp.

• Tabletop tablet maker Ziosk LLC said it will supply its tablets, which enable ordering and payment at the table, to International Meal Co.’s Margaritaville Restaurants. Terms were not disclosed. Ziosk says it now has more than 170,000 devices in 3,000 restaurants nationwide.

• Mastercard Inc. said it is working with The Western Union Co. to develop digital payment methods that can be used by refugees around the world. The company said 65 million people globally are displaced because of political strife or natural disasters.

• Processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) extended an agreement with Tesco Bank in the United Kingdom to support the institution’s credit card business.

• Payments-technology provider i2c Inc. appointed former First Data Corp. veteran Jean Douchey senior vice president of operations.