Bitpass Inc., a 2-year-old processor of micropayments on the Internet, has rolled out a new service allowing individuals and small businesses to sell music, photos, or other digital content without creating an e-commerce site. Palo Alto, Calif.-based Bitpass says it will host the content for sellers and handle payments, “from …

CyberSource Corp. predicts that the increase in holiday spending online will be about equal with the rise in volume seen during the same time in 2003, disputing the estimates of some observers that e-commerce traffic growth will be lower this year. Growth last year in the fourth quarter was 25% …

Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store has announced it is accepting PayPal in the U.S. for payment of song downloads, audiobooks, and gift certificates, effective today. The development represents a major breakthrough for the San Jose, Calif.-based payments unit of eBay Inc. and comes a year after the company slashed …

Two rival online payment companies in Canada are making moves to expand the market for Web-based debit payments to the U.S. Toronto-based UseMyBank Services Inc. has linked with processors in both Europe and the U.S., while Othentik Technologies Inc., Montreal, has signed a deal to license its software to US …

A startup company says it is probably 12 to 18 months away from piloting a contactless payment card that will incorporate both chip-based radio-frequency identification and biometric authentication technology. Up to now, RFID-based payment pilots and programs have not included PINs or any other means of authenticating users. But 2-year-old …

Paymentech L.P. is breaking into the market for small-value transactions with an agreement it announced today with Pepsi Cola North America to process credit and debit card payments at vending machines. Pepsi bottlers have deployed “several hundred” machines in high-traffic locations in the U.S., such as malls, hotels, and casinos, …

Leading point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Inc. has announced it is buying GO Software from Return On Investment Corp. for $13 million in a deal expected to close next month. With the acquisition, San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone expands its presence in the market made up of so-called integrated point-of-sale devices, such …

Electronic transactions in the U.S. now exceed check payments for the first time, while checks have gone from 57% of all non-cash payments to 45% in only three years, according to a Federal Reserve System report released today. There were 44.5 billion electronic payment transactions in the U.S. last year, …

Nashville, Tenn.-based iPayment Inc. this morning said it has appointed White & Case as its counsel of record in litigation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles, in which it and certain of its officers and directors are defendants against allegations of fraud. The processor also repeated earlier assertions it …

Visa USA announced it is now offering chargeback rights to consumers holding its Interlink PIN debit card. The bank card network sees the extension of chargeback protection to PIN debit as a response to consumer expectation and a competitive edge for Interlink issuers. “As debit usage continues to grow, consumers …