With much of the country buried in snow and ice on Wednesday, Visa Inc. released transaction and charge-volume numbers that likely warmed the predilections of electronic-payments watchers. The leading card network reported U.S. credit and debit card payments volume of $493 billion for its first quarter of fiscal 2011 ended …

After about four years of testing, the New York City area’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is beginning the process of building a fare-payment system based on general-purpose contactless cards. MTA officials tell Digital Transactions News that they plan to publish a so-called Concept of Operations, a document outlining the agency’s broad …

With more consumers paying bills electronically than are receiving them that way, a startup that lets consumers receive and store digital copies of their bills announced on Tuesday it is introducing a payment service aimed at closing that gap. Seattle-based doxo Inc., which in October launched a document-management service modeled …

Payment processor Total System Services Inc. sees new opportunities in merchant acquiring while No. 3 credit card network American Express Co. saw a double-digit jump in charge volume in the fourth quarter, an indication of a possible revival in consumer spending. Boosted by its new business from merchant acquirer First …

The Western Union Co. is stepping up its presence in the general-purpose reloadable prepaid card market with a new agreement to offer its MoneyWise Prepaid Card at InComm retail locations throughout the U.S. InComm, a marketer, processor, and distributor of stored-valued gift and prepaid cards, has partnerships with more than …

Starting in March, checks sent to lockboxes and some point of sale transactions can be processed by merchants and billers through the automated clearing house system without offering consumers a chance to opt out under new rules set by NACHA, the ACH’s regulatory organization. The new rules, which will be …

Vancouver’s public-transportation authority has selected a $220 million fare-payment system from Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. that includes a transit-only reloadable contactless card but also the ability to accept general-purpose contactless cards. Replacing proprietary fare cards with systems that add transit capabilities to contactless credit and debit cards issued by banks …

A freeze on approvals of mobile applications for card acceptance by merchants, announced in November by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), will likely be lifted some time before the end of the year. Top officials with the Wakefield, Mass.-based organization tell Digital Transactions News the Council is working …

Despite the hype about mobile payments, most consumers still aren't comfortable using smart phones to pay for things, according to new research from the Bank Administration Institute and Hitachi Consulting. That, however, could change, and change soon. The study also shows that debit remains consumers' preferred payment choice, though its …

The drastic reduction in debit card interchange revenue mandated by the Durbin Amendment will be somewhat favorable for PayPal Inc., an official with the e-commerce processor’s parent company said on Wednesday. “In the short and the medium term, we believe it’ll probably be neutral to positive on our performance,” said …