Canadian police have made seven arrests as part of a continuing investigation into what might be a terrorist-connected scheme to skim PINs and other credit and debit card information from a point-of-sale terminal. The case, which has affected residents of Mississauga, a town near Toronto, involved a handheld terminal at …
Read More »Wary or Not, Phishing Continued Its Rapid Ascent in June
Phishing hit record levels in June, according to new numbers released this week by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, though the group cautions that the increase was caused in large part by new data sources that drove up the sample size. The number of unique reports of phishing attacks hit 28,571 …
Read More »Cutting Payment Costs, Wesco Helps Debitman with Issuer Gap
A Michigan convenience-store chain believes its new Debitman card program will lower its card-acceptance costs while simultaneously boosting customer loyalty by taking some of the sting out of rising gasoline prices. Debitman Card Inc. announced this week that Muskegon-based Wesco Inc., which operates 51 stores in the state, would join …
Read More »Visa Data Show Increasing Penetration of Sub-$25 Market
Visa USA reported Thursday an increasing willingness among consumers to use cards for purchases valued at under $25, a highly coveted transaction segment in which the San Francisco-based bank card network waives its signature requirement in some 17 merchant categories. The network says its payment volume in this segment jumped …
Read More »My Payment Network Looks for Growth from Resellers, New Clients
My Payment Network Inc., a Corte Madera, Calif.-based startup specializing in invoice-based electronic-payment processing for schools and small businesses, says its SchoolPay product could reach between 3,500 and 4,000 schools in the coming year, up from more than 50 at the end of the 2005-06 academic year. At the same …
Read More »PNC Joins Small But Growing Bank Trend Toward Free ATM Usage
Pittsburgh-based PNC Bank said today it will reimburse its customers for ATM fees they incur when they use other banks' ATMs anywhere in the world. The program, which begins Sept. 1, means the bank's 2 million retail-banking customers will receive rebates for ATM surcharges as well as the so-called foreign …
Read More »Discover Scores U.S. JCB Transactions in Latest Deal to Open Network
In the latest of a series of moves to open its network to outside card issuers and transaction processors, Discover Financial Services LLC on Wednesday said Discover Network will begin processing transactions for JCB International Credit Card Co. Ltd. some time next year. In 2008, Discover cardholders will be able …
Read More »PayPal Exec Says eBay Ban Against Google Checkout Is ‘Overplayed’
When online auction giant eBay Inc. barred Google Checkout from its marketplace, the move led to widespread industry speculation that eBay, which owns rival online payment processor PayPal, was discriminating against the weeks-old Google Inc. payment product. But a PayPal executive tells Digital Transactions News eBay's action had nothing to …
Read More »Applying Casino Lessons, Infonox Pushes Savvier ATMs for Banks
Convinced that banks are ready to upgrade ATM capability to sell more products and services, San Jose, Calif.-based Infonox Inc. says it is piloting marketing-savvy machines with unnamed clients and plans to have at least one commercial deployment in progress within six months. “There's a dramatic shift in the banking …
Read More »iPayment Logs Low Volume Growth, Though Gas Prices Help
Newly private iPayment Inc. this week reported a 12% increase in operating profits despite single-digit growth in charge volume. Nonetheless, the big Nashville, Tenn.-based independent sales organization posted a net loss of $5.81 million on expenses related to its May 10 management-led buyout, compared with net income of $7.73 million …
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