While the payment card industry is bracing for debit card interchange and other regulations that will come next year from the Federal Reserve as a result of the new financial-reform law, merchant acquirers on Monday got a long-anticipated reporting rule. Beginning with the 2011 tax year, acquirers must report how …

Transaction volumes are rising on the automated clearing house, but a recently released survey shows a nasty side effect of this growth is a rise in the volume of disputed transactions. Some 63% of processors and financial institutions reported they handled more disputed, or unauthorized, payments last year than in …

In a move that could generate significant incremental sales on its Android Market, Google Inc. is reportedly in talks with eBay Inc. about using PayPal as a payment method for applications that run on its hugely popular Android operating system for smart phones. But the talks aren’t likely to open …

The PCI Security Standards Council on Thursday gave a sneak peek at planned changes in the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, or PCI. While a Council document outlines 15 planned changes, the proposals are “relatively minor,” according to a news release. “The No. 1 thing again is greater clarity on …

With interchange and overdraft-fee revenues under withering political and regulatory attack, debit card issuers can point to one bright spot in their quest for growth—instance issuance of cards in bank and credit-union branches. Some 35% of financial institutions offered the service in 2009, up from 28% in 2008, according to …

A proposed rule from the U.S. Treasury Department could add millions of users to a prepaid card program sponsored by the federal government to distribute Social Security benefits. The new rule, which would eliminate virtually all paper checks for various federal benefits, would expand the range of benefits that can …

Boosted by its big new merchant alliance with Bank of America Corp., First Data Corp.’s transaction count surged 41% in the second quarter, the leading payment processor reported Tuesday. Factoring out the BofA alliance, First Data’s transaction volume from existing merchants grew a much less spectacular but still respectable 9%, …

A Canadian processor that has sued more than a dozen major banks and PayPal Inc. over a patent it says covers virtually all of the electronic-check payment types supported by the automated clearing house network scored another victory with its announcement on Monday of a settlement with San Francisco-based Union …

NACHA, governing body of the automated clearing house, is considering rules changes that could add volume to the ACH. Among them: allowing recurring payments under the TEL code for telephone-authorized electronic-check conversions; raising the dollar limit to $50,000 for three major e-check codes, and eliminating opt-out notification requirements on two …

With the growing popularity of prepaid cards and other stored-value devices over the past few years, law-enforcement agencies and regulators have voiced concerns that payment devices intended for consumer convenience could become tools for money launderers, terrorists, and other illicit players. To address those concerns, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial …