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Payments-industry observers who have been frustrated by the slow progress of near-field communication (NFC) technology for point-of-sale mobile payments may find an alternative in a new mobile application called MobilePay USA. The service surfaced last week when it won an award at a conference sponsored by TechCrunch, a technology blog. …
Read More »PCI Compliance Should Be a ‘LifeStyle,’ Says Assessor Verizon
Merchants are most likely to remain compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards and avoid data breaches if they adopt security as a lifestyle, according to a study released earlier this week by Verizon Business. Verizon Business provides audits and other PCI-related services. When we've seen people be …
Read More »Shazam Attacks Online PIN Debit with a Trio of Solutions
If one PIN-debit system for Internet payments is good, three are even better in the eyes of the Shazam electronic funds transfer network. The network on Wednesday announced it has become the first network client of a new online PIN-debit platform from e-commerce systems provider CardinalCommerce Corp. Shazam now has …
Read More »PCI Council Issues Guidance on EMV And Point-to-Point Encryption
With end-to-end encryption of payment card data rapidly spreading throughout the credit and debit card industry and calls for the U.S. to replace magnetic-stripe cards with so-called EMV chip-and-PIN cards, the card industry’s security overseer is attempting to ensure that security standards change with the times. The PCI Security Standards …
Read More »Citi Will Pilot a New Card with a Button for Rewards
Citigroup Inc. revealed on Tuesday it will start a pilot next month for a new type of credit card that will let cardholders apply rewards they’ve earned by pressing a button on the card. The pilot for the new card, which Citi has dubbed its 2G credit card, will start …
Read More »Visa, MasterCard Settle with DoJ, But AmEx Vows a Fight
The U.S. Department of Justice and seven states on Monday sued Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc., and American Express Co. over their merchant-acceptance policies, especially those that restrict discounting for other cards or payment forms. Visa and MasterCard immediately announced a settlement, but AmEx said it would fight. The antitrust lawsuit …
Read More »Mobile-Payments Fraud Starts to Take Its Toll
Mobile payments are barely out of the starting gate, but fraudsters are quickly discovering the new channel’s potential for making a dishonest buck, according to new research from LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Fraud losses from mobile payments as a percentage of total revenue were 1.13% compared with 0.83% for online-only merchants …
Read More »Banks’ Remote Capture Fee Focus Is Misplaced, Experts Say
Many financial institutions that have jumped into remote deposit capture to reap fee income, or have shied away from it out of fear of risk, may be missing the point, according to experts who spoke this week at a conference on the subject. Instead, banks and credit unions should focus …
Read More »Heartland Adds an Encrypting PC Wedge to Its E3 Line
With 5,100 small and mid-sized businesses already using its E3 end-to-end encryption terminals, Heartland Payment Systems Inc. early next month will roll out its E3 magnetic-stripe reader for PC-based payment applications. The E3 wedge is a small, mag-stripe-reading wedge that plugs into the USB port of a personal computer or …
Read More »Hypercom Rejects Rival Terminal Maker VeriFone’s Hostile Bid
Leading U.S. point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. late on Wednesday disclosed it was making a cash bid for archrival Hypercom Corp. in what VeriFone says is an effort to expand its presence in continental Europe. Hypercom's board of directors early Thursday rejected the offer, calling it “opportunistic,” and said …
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