Second-quarter earnings reports from Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. show strong online-banking growth at both giant institutions. BofA also reported today that its base of active bill-payment accounts is up nearly 15% from mid-2007. But subjectivity could be an element in the numbers as banks try …

With an estimated 11 million point-of-sale terminals still in place in the U.S. processing card transactions on dial-up connections, processors and merchants are seeking ways to convert these devices to broadband without taking on the costs of replacing them. The latest is Transaction Network Services Inc., a Reston, Va.-based company …

International Merchant Services Inc., which has taken on all new senior management over the past 11 months, is launching a new marketing blitz this week whose underlying message might be characterized as impatience with the electronic transactions business. Hoping to accelerate the progress of promising payment technology that for a …

The struggle over the controversial Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) continues. Late last month, H.R. 5767, which blocked implementation of the UIGEA, was defeated in the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services. Meanwhile, a new bill related to online gambling was introduced this week by U.S. Rep. …

The U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the controversial Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 on Wednesday on a 19-16 vote, but with a significant change. The marked-up bill no longer includes a provision that would have established a three-judge panel to arbitrate interchange pricing should merchants and the bank …

PayPal Inc.'s multiyear campaign to build up the share of transactions it processes from Internet merchants rather than auction sellers has paid off in a steady rise in non-auction volume to the point that online merchants now account for very nearly half of the processor's total volume, excluding its gateway …

Select-A-Branch, the multibranded surcharge-free ATM network, reported on Tuesday that it has completed installation of 10 machines in Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway stations, but its growth train won't stop in Boston. “Look for us in some major airports,” Dan Stechow, chief operating officer of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Select-A-Branch …

A startup that lets consumers use their credit cards to make mortgage payments and meet other credit obligations online is talking to lenders about including its payment service when consumers close on loans. Because the service doesn't charge billers for payments, company officials expect the tie-ins will carry considerable appeal …

Bill Me Later Inc., the online alternative financing system, is now live on the Amazon.com site. Announced last week, that development is no surprise as Amazon back in December said it had invested in Bill Me Later and would offer the payment service to its customers (Digital Transactions News, Dec. …

Google Inc.'s Gmail this week followed Yahoo! Inc. to become the second big e-mail provider publicly working with online auction host eBay Inc. and its PayPal payment service to fight phishing scams. With Google's Checkout service attempting to gain online charge volume in a PayPal-dominated alternative-payment market, the anti-phishing partnership …