Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
This week’s revelation by The Home Depot Inc. that it has incurred $263 million in expenses from its 2014 data breach means that the home-improvement retailer’s breach costs, together with those of another big-box retailer, Target Corp., now total $554 million. In a quarterly regulatory filing Tuesday, Atlanta-based Home Depot …
Read More »Streit Retained, but Two of Dissident Shareholder’s Nominees Elected to Green Dot Board
Green Dot Corp. shareholders re-elected chairman and chief executive Steven W. Streit to the company’s board of directors Monday after a proxy fight, but they also elected two nominees from dissident shareholder Harvest Capital Strategies LLC, which has called for Streit’s ouster. Harvest Capital, which says that Streit is not …
Read More »Two Green Dot Directors Up for Re-Election Resign Just Before Contested Annual Meeting
Two long-time members of Green Dot Corp.’s board of directors who were up for re-election suddenly resigned Sunday, just ahead of the company’s contested annual shareholder meeting Monday that potentially could lead to the ouster of company founder and chief executive Steven W. Streit. The Pasadena, Calif.-based prepaid card provider …
Read More »The EFT Networks Broaden Their Offerings in The Fight for Debit Market Share
Once known exclusively for enabling PIN-based debit card transactions at ATMs and then at the point of sale, the electronic funds transfer networks are broadening their payment options for merchants as they compete with global networks Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. for debit transactions. For example, payment processor First Data …
Read More »A Processing Glitch Hits Green Dot Just Days Before Contested Shareholder Meeting
Holders of the Walmart MoneyCard issued by Green Dot Corp.’s bank subsidiary have resorted to social media in the past few days to complain of not being able to check account balances or use their cards to make purchases and withdraw money from ATMs. The extent of the glitch is …
Read More »Rewards Cards: Rewarding for Issuers, but What About Merchants?
Rewards and loyalty cards are now common in the U.S. payments landscape, but new research findings show just how popular such cards have become. A study by Phoenix Marketing International says 93% of all credit card spending is now done on rewards cards, up from 88% in 2013. A separate …
Read More »The Opposing Sides in Green Dot’s Acrimonious Proxy Fight Dole Out Voting Advice
The increasingly dramatic proxy fight at prepaid card issuer Green Dot Corp., a fight that could cost its founder, chairman, and chief executive Steven W. Streit his job if management loses, took an interesting turn Monday when Green Dot said it would appoint George Gresham, a director nominee from the …
Read More »Excess Chip Card Inventories and Small Issuers’ Delayed EMV Rollouts Hurt CPI Card Group
Despite a 66% increase in shipments of EMV chip cards to U.S. credit and debit card issuers in the first quarter, shares of CPI Card Group Inc. plunged as much as 43% Thursday morning after the big card manufacturer reported financial results below its expectations. CPI said large issuers and …
Read More »PayPal, Grocery Stores Pull in the Reins on Gift Cards
Gift cards are the target of a crackdown in the first half of 2016. Next month, PayPal Holdings Inc. will no longer allow items equivalent to cash, including gift cards, to be covered by PayPal’s Seller Protection program for merchants. And prepaid card provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. recently reported …
Read More »Wal-Mart Sues Visa Over Network’s ‘Demand’ for Signatures on EMV Debit Sales
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sued Visa Inc. on Tuesday claiming that Visa is trying to make the retailer use signature verification for some EMV debit card transactions and route those transactions over Visa’s network rather than Wal-Mart’s preferred PIN-debit networks. The suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, …
Read More »