With its acquisition of mobile-terminal maker Way Systems Inc., VeriFone Systems Inc. picked up a small, struggling company facing plenty of competition in the market for mobile point-of-sale hardware and services. But the San Jose, Calif.-based terminal kingpin also bolstered a linchpin strategy in its efforts to diversify beyond POS …

Countering the perception that they’re not as tech-savvy as their banking brethren, credit unions are adopting imaging ATMs at a greater rate than banks, according to new findings from Celent LLC. In fact, when it comes to adoption of 14 tech-related services or operations for branches, including imaging ATMs, credit …

Powered in part by surging government programs, open-loop prepaid cards barreled along in 2009, according to new findings from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Now the question is whether that growth will continue after new payment card regulations kick in some time next year. Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator estimates users loaded $124.6 …

First gift cards went virtual, and now they’re going mobile. Portland, Ore.-based Giftango Corp. introduced on Wednesday a software developer’s toolkit that mobile developers can use to let users receive gift cards while staying within a mobile application. Giftango, which manages both plastic and virtual gift cards for merchants and …

While banks, card networks, and wireless carriers jockey for position in the nascent market for mobile payments at the point of sale, the digital-content business is quickly establishing itself as a fast-growing mobile-payments market. That’s thanks to the rapid spread of mobile broadband networks and smart phones, a new report …

Already a force in remote deposit capture and specialty deposit and payment services, privately held BServ Inc.’s BankServ on Tuesday announced that it would acquire a pioneer in the remote capture niche, Zions Bancorporation’s wholly owned NetDeposit LLC subsidiary. The combined operation will serve more than 100,000 business locations and …

First Data Corp.’s Star Network introduced on Wednesday technology that represents the first effort by a U.S. electronic funds transfer network to adopt contactless transactions. The technology, which Star calls CertiFlash, will use chips embedded in PIN debit cards to communicate with point-of-sale readers and to generate one-time account numbers …

Recognizing that sloppy payment-processing software installations can lead to data breaches, Visa Inc. on Tuesday issued what it calls the top 10 best practices for secure software management. Visa is aiming the guidance mostly at third-party software vendors, integrators, value-added resellers (VARs), and others that sell or license card-processing applications …

With the nation’s largest bank processor on board, mobile remote deposit capture seems likely to get a big boost beyond its early-adopter phase of a handful of pioneering financial institutions. Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv Inc. on Wednesday announced the launch of the service it dubs Mobile Source Capture, which allows a …

NACHA, the regulator for the automated clearing house network, announced on Tuesday it has launched a long-awaited pilot for a payment method that would let banks convert low-value consumer checks into electronic transactions and then clear them through the ACH. The method, called Deposited Check Truncation (DCT), is intended to …