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CheckClear LLC, which owns and operates what is so far the only national image-exchange network in operation for check processing, announced today it is planning to connect to an image exchange being built by the Federal Reserve. It also said it has made an agreement to connect to imaging equipment …
Read More »A Survey Shows How Phishing Has Spooked Online Customers
A survey conducted last month shows the extent to which e-mail fraud schemes, also known as phishing scams, are affecting consumers and their willingness to do business online, just as financial institutions and retailers are pushing to move more transactions into the online channel. Fully 75% of bank accountholders are …
Read More »How Debitman Plans to Boost Its Card Base 300-Fold by Year’s End
Debitman Card Inc., a retailer-sponsored debit card network based in Chico, Calif., is moving aggressively on a new card-issuance plan that calls for increasing the base of Debitman-branded cards to just over 900,000 cards issued by 1,000 merchant outlets by the end of the year. The card base currently stands …
Read More »Peppercoin Readies ‘Version 2.0’ to Target a Huge Market
Peppercoin Inc., a micropayments processor in Waltham, Mass., sees a potential market for transactions of small and very small values reaching into the trillions of dollars, embracing both the online and point-of-sale markets. To tap that potential, the new company is moving toward a rollout, planned for mid-summer, of a …
Read More »A U.K. Banker’s Warning for His U.S. Brethren: Get with the Chip
Bankers in the U.S. who bemoan the absence of a business case for smart cards may soon find one now that a massive rollout of chip-based credit and debit cards secured with personal identification numbers is well under way in the U.K., a British banker warned today. That's because fraudsters …
Read More »AmEx Will Expand ExpressPay And Promote a New Incentive
American Express Co. this Friday will begin adding more merchants in lower Manhattan in its test of radio-wave technology for payment transactions. Over the next several weeks, three quick-service restaurants near the card company's headquarters will begin accepting the card company's experimental ExpressPay RIFD keyfobs, which communicate with conventional card …
Read More »Advice from an Expert: Don’t Rely on E-Loyalty to Push Technology
Executives who are counting on loyalty applications to help justify new transaction technologies like smart cards and radio-frequency ID devices may have to reconsider their strategies in light of recent developments, according to an expert in electronic loyalty programs. Speaking at Thomson Media's CardTech SecurTech conference and exhibition this week …
Read More »Nova Buys a 10,000-Merchant Portfolio from Union Bank
Nova Information Systems, an Atlanta-based transaction processor, announced today it has agreed to acquire a portfolio of 10,000 merchants from Union Bank of California in a deal expected to close by June 30. Pricing and other terms were not disclosed. Nova says the acquisition is expected to add $3 billion …
Read More »The First Bonded Online Auction Set for April 27
More than 300 sellers are set to participate April 27 in the first online auction in which all transactions will be guaranteed by surety bonds. Dealers in antiques and collectibles will sell their wares during the auction, scheduled for April 27-May 2 at BondedSale.com, a site jointly sponsored by online …
Read More »Authorize.net Sets Its Sights on Brick-and-Mortar Merchants
Authorize.net Inc., which serves as a payments gateway for 91,000 mostly mid-size and small Web-based merchants, is making a major play for the brick-and-mortar point of sale. With the backing of its new owner, Burlington, Mass.-based Lightbridge Inc., Authorize.net is revving up its marketing and re-seller efforts to expand rapidly …
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