Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
At a time when new ATM deployment has been slow, one independent deployer of the machines has found a big payoff from a novel approach to cobranding ATMs with banks. Since announcing its cobranding deal about 18 months ago, Houston-based Cardtronics Inc. has been able to get more than 800 …
Read More »Wal-Mart’s Bank Creates Uncertainty for Banks As Well As Processors
The disclosure by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in late July that it plans to charter an industrial bank in Utah to acquire its own payment transactions is creating more questions than answers about current relationships between the world's largest retailer and the payments entities with whom it currently works. Bentonville, Ark.-based …
Read More »Survey: Gift Cards Are Growing in Popularity As Customer Incentives
Customer incentives represent a growing new niche for gift cards, according to the results of a new survey. Of some 68 decision-makers canvassed, 52% said they are likely to offer gift cards as a customer incentive in the next 12 months. Of all industries represented in the survey, restaurants represent …
Read More »MasterCard Stats Show Continued Double-Digit Rise for Signature Debit
Signature-based debit continued to grow at double-digit rates in the second quarter, as indicated by statistics released today by MasterCard International. Total MasterCard signature, or off-line, debit volume hit $48 billion in the U.S., up 32.3% over the same period last year. The point-of-sale component of this activity was $29.1 …
Read More »Data-Breach Cases Begin to Spawn Legal and Regulatory Fallout
As the number of headlines about database breaches grows, so too does the number of lawsuits filed in response, as well as the amount of legislation aimed at better protecting consumer data. Several suits have already been filed in the wake of recent thefts of card data at Columbus, Ohio-based …
Read More »Fiserv Gains New Bill-Payment Assets in $350-Million BillMatrix Deal
Fiserv Inc. is buying electronic bill-payment processor BillMatrix Corp. in a $350-million deal expected to close by Sept. 30. Dallas-based BillMatrix processes payments on cards and through the automated clearing house for more than 120 clients, among them utilities, insurers, lenders, and phone carriers. It is a pioneer in the …
Read More »Hacking Incidents Are a Boon for Payment-Industry Gumshoes
The increase in thefts of personal and financial information from databases, highlighted by the recent security breach at payment processor CardSystems Solutions Inc., is causing other processing entities to enhance security efforts beyond just fortifying computers and telecommunications links. For instance, Vital Processing Services LLC, a big merchant processor based …
Read More »Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Argue Kendall Won’t Sink Their Interchange Cases
The lead attorney in a recently filed small-business class action against Visa, MasterCard, and a number of their member banks over interchange is optimistic his lawsuit will succeed even though a suit by some California small businesses challenging interchange on antitrust grounds was dismissed this week. In separate statements, Visa …
Read More »AmEx: So Far So Good with MBNA, Though It’s Still Early in BofA Deal
American Express Co. has so far seen no change in its relationship with MBNA Corp., which last year began issuing cards on AmEx's network in the U.S. but is now in the process of being acquired by Bank of America Corp. in a $35 billion deal that was announced late …
Read More »Debitman Readies a Stored-Value Card for a Late ’05 Launch
Debitman Inc., a non-bank PIN debit network linking tens of thousands of merchant locations, will launch a PIN-secured stored-value card by Sept. 30 that will bear merchant branding on the front, with Debitman's mark on the back. John K. Lannan, chief executive of the Chico, Calif.-based company, says heavy-duty marketing …
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