Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
A small engineering company in Montreal has struck a deal with Universal Air Travel Plan Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based switch for some 220 airlines and travel agencies around the world, to enable air carriers to accept PIN debit and credit cards on their Web sites with card-swipe authentication. In addition, …
Read More »Survey: Consumers Lost $3.2 Billion to Phishing Attacks in 2007
Some 3.6 million U.S. adults were victims of phishing attacks in the 12 months ending in August, losing an average of $886 apiece for an estimated total of $3.2 billion, according to a survey of more than 4,500 online users sponsored by Gartner Inc. Gartner, a technology research firm based …
Read More »A New Web Site Seeks to Broaden the Market for Merchant Portfolios
Seeking to create a more fluid market for merchant portfolios, two entrepreneurs have created a Web site to showcase assets and broker deals. Boston-based Merchantportfolios.com, which went live about a month ago, is attracting what Lane Gordon, one of the partners, refers to as a “double-digit” number of users browsing …
Read More »AmEx Takes a Leaf from Discover’s Acquiring Strategy?with a Twist
Taking a cue from Discover Financial Services, travel-and-entertainment card leader American Express Co. on Monday said that it had enlisted processor First Data Corp. to book new small and mid-size merchants. But unlike Discover's recent pacts with First Data and other big merchant processors that involved sales of Discover-owned merchant …
Read More »Euronet Bids for MoneyGram, And Girds for a Fight If Necessary
Euronet Worldwide Inc., which on Thursday made public a stock offer valued at $1.65 billion for rival money-transfer company MoneyGram International Inc., has rejected an offer from MoneyGram to discuss the possible combination of the two companies because of a condition MoneyGram wanted to impose that would have stopped Euronet’s …
Read More »The FTC and Seven States Sue Processor for Aiding Suspect Merchants
In its seventh action against a payment processor since 2004, the Federal Trade Commission along with seven state attorneys general announced this week they are suing a Lake Mary, Fla.-based check and automated clearing house processor that extracted millions of dollars from consumers by processing fraudulent payments for a suspect …
Read More »Google Checkout Extends Offer of Free Processing Another Month
Evidence that the battle for supremacy among alternative-payments providers remains intense arrived on Wednesday with Google Inc.'s announcement that its Checkout service will continue to process transactions for free through January. “Considering how busy this time of year is for you,” says Checkout product marketing manager Gavin Chan in a …
Read More »Cardtronics Slims Down Its IPO But Gets the Deal Done in Stormy Market
Cardtronics Inc., operator of the nation's largest non-bank ATM network, completed its initial public offering of stock on Monday and began trading Tuesday on the NASDAQ stock market, but only after cutting the size of the deal in a stormy stock market. Houston-based Cardtronics announced its planned IPO in September. …
Read More »Bill Me Later-Amazon Deal Could Be a Huge Boost for Both Parties
At the stroke of a pen, Bill Me Later Inc. has not only become the sole third-party alternative payment vehicle accepted by the world's largest retailing Web site, but it also receives an injection of capital as that site, Amazon.com Inc., takes an undisclosed equity stake in the Timonium, Md.-based …
Read More »PIN Debit And the ACH Among the Big Gainers in Fed Payments Study
PIN debit transactions are growing significantly faster than signature debit payments. Checks processed electronically are approaching half of all checks paid. And transactions on the automated clearing house are growing faster than any other form of payment. These are among the more surprising results of the Federal Reserve's tri-annual payments …
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