Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
News of the first big data breach of 2008 broke Monday afternoon when Scarborough, Maine-based grocery chain Hannaford Bros. Co. acknowledged a data intrusion into its computer network that resulted in the theft of a reported 4.2 million customer credit and debit card numbers. The disclosure came only after the …
Read More »First Data Filing Points to Break-up of Chase Paymentech
Talks under way between processor First Data Corp. and banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. indicate Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, the world's largest merchant acquirer, might be split between its two owners, according to documents filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Greenwood Village, Colo.-based First Data, which …
Read More »Fraud Prevalence Levels off, But Incident Rate Increases
Companies that accept checks and electronic payments were victimized by fraud at virtually the same rate in 2007 as in 2006, but those that experienced fraud saw more incidents of it, according to a survey by the Association for Financial Professionals released this week. The Bethesda, Md.-based AFP is a …
Read More »Overstock.com Says PayPal Yields Triple Expected Volume
Online merchants implementing payment alternatives to bank cards are beginning to report significant results. Since it started to accept PayPal in November, for example, online closeout retailer Overstock.com Inc. has seen the alternative payment method soar to 10% of its revenues and 12% of its orders, according to Alan Johnson, …
Read More »Big Gap Yawns Between Banks, Small Businesses on Scanner Prices
The cost of check scanners is the biggest hurdle to small businesses' adoption of remote deposit capture, says a new report from Boston-based researcher Celent LLC. Yet only 15% of banks offer clients free scanners, with half requiring them to buy the machines upfront, either from the bank or from …
Read More »Following Citi Mobile, Bank Giant Forms Global M-Banking Venture
Less than a year after launching a commercial, handset-based banking and bill-payment program in the U.S., Citigroup Inc. announced it is working with a major South Korean telecommunications company to offer mobile banking around the world. The San Francisco-based joint venture, Mobile Money Ventures LLC, will be equally owned by …
Read More »Interchange Bill Raises Questions About Role of Government
A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives late last week that proposes to lay down new rules for how payment card interchange would be set raises many questions beyond whether the banking or retail lobby carries more clout in Congress. The questions can be summed up in one: …
Read More »Pay By Touch Auctions off ATM Direct, BioPay Paycheck Secure
Bankrupt Solidus Networks Inc. has sold two of the three major subsidiaries that it identified this winter as non-core assets, Digital Transactions News has learned. Next up is a March 14 auction of the core biometrics payment business of Solidus, which does business as Pay By Touch. On Thursday, a …
Read More »‘Friendly Fraud’ Grows Worse, But Chargebacks Winnable, Expert Says
A problem the electronic payments industry calls “friendly fraud,” which has long dominated chargebacks for online sellers of digital goods from songs to software, is getting worse for these merchants, according to the top executive of a payments processor specializing in this market. Gene Hoffman, chairman and chief executive of …
Read More »Wal-Mart Exec Happy with MoneyCard, But Stays Mum on Details
Jane Thompson, the head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Financial Services unit, revealed some interesting tidbits on Tuesday about the No. 1 retailer's payment services, but she didn't answer one question many in her audience of 2,200 was asking regarding the widely watched Wal-Mart MoneyCard: how many of the prepaid cards …
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