Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
In case you spent the entire Labor Day long weekend in a fishing boat on a remote lake, you could barely miss the stories moving over the business wires in recent days about Apple Inc. and electronic payments. In sum, the iconic computer maker and iTunes and App Store provider …
Read More »Citi Scores a Digital-Wallet First for U.S. Banks, But Will Consumers Care?
Citigroup Inc. claims to have become the first global bank to introduce its own branded wallet in the U.S. The question now is how much Citi’s millions of payment card holders will care as digital-wallet services proliferate. The new Citi Wallet announced Monday is based on MasterCard Inc.’s MasterPass platform, …
Read More »Eye on Litigation: Mitek-USAA Trial Looms; Retailers Appeal to Supreme Court
The spat between Mitek Systems Inc. and USAA Federal Savings Bank over remote deposit capture software is set for trial Sept. 8, but the trial won’t include Mitek’s patent-infringement allegations that had been a key part of the case. In other payments-related legal action, four retail trade groups and two …
Read More »As Card-Industry Use of Tokens Increases, MasterCard Plans “Digital Enablement” Fees
MasterCard Inc. is planning new “digital enablement” fees, one for merchant acquirers and the other for card issuers, that will generate revenue for the network as mobile payments and the use of tokens that substitute for actual payment card numbers increase. The fees are outlined in recent MasterCard bulletins for …
Read More »FinCen Director Defends Marijuana Guidelines as Bank Group Urges Congress To Act
Defending the federal government’s guidance for providing financial services to legal marijuana businesses, a senior U.S. Treasury Department official on Tuesday said more than 100 banks and credit unions are now working with cannabis-industry customers. One consultant who connects banks with marijuana merchants confirms that financial-institution interest in the budding …
Read More »The CFPB Warns About the ‘Wild West’ of Virtual Currencies
Already eyed with suspicion by various arms of the federal government and states, virtual currencies now are the subject of a warning issued Monday by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB released a six-page advisory about the risks consumers face when using new forms of electronic money. “Virtual …
Read More »Having Built Its Own Processing Platform, TransFirst Prepares for a Partial IPO
The big merchant acquirer TransFirst Inc. gave notice Wednesday that it is planning a partial initial public offering. Hauppauge, N.Y.-based TransFirst filed a registration statement, or S-1, with the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing its IPO plans and putting a tentative value of $100 million on the deal. The filing says …
Read More »ACI To Expand Its Fraud-Protection Services Menu Through Its Acquisition of ReD
After beefing up its bill-payment services through two acquisitions in 2013, ACI Worldwide Inc. is now turning its attention to fraud prevention. The Naples, Fla.-based payments-software firm on Monday announced that it plans to buy prominent e-commerce fraud-detection and prevention services provider Retail Decisions Plc (ReD) for $205 million in …
Read More »Twitter, Facebook Make Payments Moves, But Do They Threaten Payments Firms?
Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. both made moves in the electronic-payments space this week, but analysts question whether the giant social networks are preparing frontal assaults on the payments industry. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook on Thursday revealed that it is testing a “Buy” button that will let members buy products directly …
Read More »Federal Officials Tell Their Side of the Operation Choke Point Story
They came in for more bashing at a House subcommittee hearing Tuesday, but several federal government officials at least got a chance to give their opinions about the controversial Operation Choke Point, an effort by the U.S. Department of Justice supported by bank regulators that aims to cut off access …
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