Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Jim Daly Another sign that the U.S. EMV conversion has a long way to go emerged last week when a survey of more than 990 independent business owners by Newtek Business Services Inc. revealed that 71% of respondents were unaware of the so-called EMV liability shift coming on Oct. …
Read More »Costco’s Post-AmEx Credit Card Plans Include Visa but Exclude MasterCard
By Jim Daly The big warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. announced Monday an agreement with Citigroup Inc. to replace its current cobranded card from American Express Co. next April with a Citi-issued Visa credit card. But Costco also announced a companion agreement with Visa Inc. under which other Visa-branded credit …
Read More »With EMV’s Rise, Debit Card Fraud on Canada’s Interac Network Falls to a New Low
Counterfeit fraud on Canada’s Interac debit cards fell 45% to a record low in 2014, and 80% of the fraud happened outside of Canada, according to new figures from Toronto-based Interac Association. The five-year slide in skimming-related fraud coincides with the rise of EMV smart cards in Canada as well …
Read More »Gemalto Says Spy Operation ‘Probably Happened,’ but Downplays Its Effect
By Digital Transactions News Staff The big SIM and EMV chip manufacturer Gemalto NV on Wednesday acknowledged that an alleged operation by U.S. and British electronic spy agencies targeting the company “probably happened,” but the Amsterdam-based firm downplayed its impact. The alleged operation in 2010 and 2011 by the United …
Read More »Did Spies Secretly Steal Chip Producer Gemalto’s Electronic Keys?
By Digital Transactions News Staff Gemalto NV, one of the largest manufacturers of SIM cards for mobile phones and a key vendor for U.S. payment card producers as the nation converts to the EMV chip card standard, suddenly has found itself in the middle of a spy scandal involving the …
Read More »Heartland Begins a ‘Trusted Dealer Program’ to Bolster Multiple Product Sales
Heartland Payment Systems Inc. is building a point-of-sale system reseller network in hopes it will increase the number of multiple products sold to a single merchant. Announced Friday, the program is part of Heartland Commerce, and signals a shift in Heartland’s selling strategy. The company will no longer use a …
Read More »AmEx Vows Appeal After Federal Court Deals T&E Giant a Loss Over Its Anti-Steering Rules
By Jim Daly and John Stewart Continuing its recent string of setbacks, American Express Co. Thursday lost a crucial federal court fight in which it defended policies banning merchants from steering AmEx cardholders to cheaper forms of payment. The U.S. Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general challenged the …
Read More »Heartland’s Decision to Wind Down Leaf Throws Spotlight on Tablet Software
Merchants using Leaf, a tablet-based point-of-sale system that its owner Heartland Payment Systems Inc. is winding down, will continue to be supported, but there will be no further sales of the system, Leaf president Sarah McCrary tells Digital Transactions News. The expense and complication of supporting hardware to accept chip …
Read More »Merchants Worldwide Are Installing More Contactless Terminals—And Turning on NFC
With technologies like Apple Pay and host card emulation reviving prospects for mobile payments using near-field communication, merchants are starting to install more NFC devices at the point of sale. And, more important, they’re starting to turn on the NFC capability. That’s according to a report issued Tuesday by Berg …
Read More »COMMENTARY: EMV, End of E-Commerce, IPOs Will Reshape Payments This Year
In the far future, when someone sits down and writes the definitive history of payments (riveting), 2014 is going to be a big year. Bitcoin reached historic highs but then went sideways. We had the introduction of Apple Pay, which was a major step forward for mobile wallets. The sheer …
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