A successfully completed test of specialized mobile technology developed jointly by a U.S.-based maker of contactless-payment readers and software and a German smart card manufacturer could bring closer the commercialization of mobile phones that make point-of-sale payments in the same way contactless cards do. The test, whose results were announced …

When eBay Inc. announced its all-electronic payments policy last month, the move triggered what an eBay executive calls a “mixed” response, at best, from the online marketplace's sprawling seller community. But the policy changes go beyond banning checks and money orders on eBay. They include requirements that will force third-party …

After years of torrid growth, the automated clearing house's electronic-check code for lockbox payments has seen its expansion slow almost to a halt. The second-quarter numbers in the accounts-receivable conversion (ARC) standard entry class (SEC) could be just a blip, or they may reflect a permanent shift toward non-paper bill …

An international organization set up to promote the concept of allowing consumers to pay online merchants via Web-based banking programs plans to have a structure in place by the third quarter next year to traffic the first payments across borders. The International Council of Payment Network Operators, established earlier this …

The heat over payment card interchange and debit cards in Canada is getting high enough to melt glaciers in the Yukon. A retailer group dominated by big stores, the Retail Council of Canada (RCC), on Wednesday launched a Web site called StopStickingItToUs.com in a campaign to build merchant resistance to …

A small software company that has sued big banks and processors for years over patents it holds that relate to check-imaging and image exchange scored a series of victories in recent weeks as three banks settled with the company and agreed to license its technology. A settlement between Bank of …

Although processor Fiserv Inc. dived in to mobile banking and payments head first on Tuesday with its announcement that it would offer mobile services through three channels on one platform, it will be some time before mobile point-of-sale payments become available on the new product. Dubbed Fiserv Mobile Money, the …

Viewpointe Archive Services LLC, operator of both an electronic check-image archive as well as an image-exchange network, on Monday announced it is entering the business of check-image settlement with the acquisition of PaymentsNation, a Dallas-based company that until recently was known as National Clearing House. The deal, for which terms …

A big change may be in the offing for Canada's point-of-sale debit market that could bring American-style percentage-based interchange to a system whose pricing currently is based on flat fees. The change could possibly even bring Visa and MasterCard debit cards to the country for the first time. The result, …

In the 18 months since NACHA introduced an electronic payment method that lets merchants convert bundles of checks in a central location, it's become clear that the method?known as back-office conversion (BOC)?isn't likely to have a big impact on retailers' paper-check volumes. That's according to Bob Meara, a senior analyst …