Numerous merchants and merchant groups have publicly declared their opposition to a controversial proposed settlement to the big credit card interchange litigation pending in federal court. In hopes of turning the settlement into a political issue, nine trade associations on Thursday took their beefs about it to Congress. In a …

The automated clearing house network’s transaction count grew by 4% in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2011, according to the latest figures from NACHA, the regulatory body for the network. Transactions totaled 4.15 billion, worth approximately $9.1 trillion in value, according to the NACHA statistics. Transactions …

The crowded mobile-payments space for small merchants just got more cramped as daily-deal leader Groupon Inc. announced its new Groupon Payments service for merchants using Apple Inc.’s iPhone and iPod touch devices to accept credit and debit cards. Groupon is coming in with low card-acceptance prices and aiming to leverage …

Growing demand from financial institutions for more advanced mobile- banking features is prompting Brookfield, Wis.-based banking-solutions provider Fiserv Inc. to expand the breadth of services available through its Mobiliti mobile-banking platform. A key service will be person-to-person payments, a Fiserv executive says. Fiserv plans to make its Popmoney person-to-person payments …

With the Isis mobile-payments venture having announced yet another delay, it remains unclear just what is causing the holdup and when the service will launch. And, say observers, time may be growing short for the venture, which is backed by three of the country’s largest wireless carriers. “I don’t know …

A 2-year-old startup that allows consumers to use prepaid cards augmented with funds from participating merchants is expected to launch its product commercially next week following a nearly nine-month pilot in the Bay area. Emeryville, Calif.-based Marqeta Inc., which has already signed up about 250 merchants, is banking on the …

Continuing its slow march toward comprehensive security requirements for mobile payments, the PCI Security Standards Council on Thursday released a set of best practices for developers of software for mobile devices. The guidelines follow by four months the guidance about mobile payments that the Council released for small merchants. The …

With smart-phone usage on the rise, small online merchants are at risk of losing market share because most of them haven’t created e-commerce sites that work smoothly on mobile devices. At the same time, independent sales organizations could lose business if they don’t find ways to help small clients deal …

The National Retail Federation announced on Tuesday that it is ready go to court to challenge the controversial proposed settlement to a massive group of merchant lawsuits against the bank card networks and some leading banks over card interchange. The NRF’s entry into the fray is the latest indication of …

The electronic-payments industry’s zig-zag movement toward faster transaction times may have received a jolt of new life on Monday with Fiserv Inc.’s announcement of its SpotPay mobile-acceptance service. The service, which at first glance appears to be the latest in a long line of products that let small businesses run …