Will the 2010 iteration of the Payment Card Industry data-security standard represent a major break from the current version or just have some minor changes? That's the question before the card networks, merchants, merchant acquirers, and payment processors now that one meeting with PCI stakeholders is down and another is …

Two research reports released on Wednesday point up emerging opportunities in mobile banking and same-day bill payments, particularly for financial institutions. Banks and billers alike will have to be careful how they price so-called expedited bill payments, or those electronic payments that post with billers on the same day. These …

With the recession driving more transactions to the e-commerce channel, the ability of merchants to deliver a smooth experience from log-in to checkout has been magnified. The good news for online stores is that fewer customers are running into glitches while conducting transactions online. The bad news is that merchants …

Amazon.com Inc. added more territory to its steadily expanding payments empire on Monday when it unveiled a mobile version of its payments service for third-party software developers, merchants, and distributors of mobile applications. Dubbed Amazon Mobile Payments Service, the system includes Amazon's so-called “1 Click” checkout service, which enables users …

Fraud control and data security rank at the top of bank ATM executives' concerns as they try to keep their networks competitive, according to results of an Aite Group LLC survey. A separate survey by Bankrate Inc., meanwhile, shows that ATM surcharges rose over the past year but foreign fees …

American Express Co. turned up the competitive heat in the gift card sector Wednesday by announcing the immediate elimination of monthly fees on all of its gift cards. AmEx also announced an expanded gift card program with shopping mall operator Simon Property Group Inc., the nation's largest public real-estate company …

A delegation from 7-Eleven Inc., including the convenience-store giant's chief executive and a handful of franchisees, cast the card-interchange issue as a matter of grassroots politics on Wednesday by personally delivering to lawmakers in the nation's capital petitions with nearly 1.7 million signatures calling for interchange regulation. The petitions, which …

A payments-industry security group formed earlier this year is going through the rather dry procedures of establishing a charter and electing leaders. But one of its first projects could get pulses beating a little faster: a simulated mass attack on databases containing payment card and demand-deposit account information. The exercise …

7-Eleven Inc. misled consumers who signed a petition asking Congress to regulate card interchange, MasterCard Inc. charged on Tuesday, one day before officials with the convenience-store chain are expected to deliver nearly 1.7 million signed petitions to Capitol Hill. Armed with the results of a consumer survey, executives with the …

With merchants looking to cut processing costs and clarify the pricing they pay for card acceptance, a Web site that lets merchants take bids from acquirers is generating between eight and 10 deals a month for at least some of the qualified processors using it. Chicago-based Transparent Financial Services LLC, …