Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Many merchant-services executives have complained for years about so-called margin compression, a relentless loss of profitability driven by competition on price per transaction. But now two researchers argue acquirer profitability, far from collapsing, is actually much better than widely thought. “There has been a lot of talk about margin compression, …
Read More »With Its Softcard Deal, Google Cements Carrier Support And Turns up Heat on Apple Pay
When Google Inc. launched its Google Wallet mobile-payments service nearly four years ago, it quickly ran into a formidable obstacle: three major mobile carriers, including two of the nation’s largest, wouldn’t let Google Wallet work on their phones. Now Google has finally found a solution, and it’s one that could …
Read More »When mPOS Goes Awry, Whom Do You Call? Payments Veteran Kahn Hopes It’s Boomtown
Mobile point-of-sale systems have come a long way in a short time, but in one respect they may have grown up too fast. They may have outstripped the ability of merchants and merchant-service providers to provide the kind of constant and consistent support that’s necessary to keep the tablets humming. …
Read More »EMVCo Aims for a ‘Smoother Experience’ in Revised Spec for Online Payment Security
With the Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip card movement well under way in the U.S. market, a key standards body is training its sights on a technology many believe could combat the fraud EMV is expected to drive to the Web. By the end of this year, EMVCo plans to have a …
Read More »Consumer Readiness for EMV Is Rising in Wake of Breaches And As Deadline Nears
With the payments industry working against an implementation deadline that’s less than eight months away, networks and issuers are looking more closely at just how ready cardholders are for Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip cards. The latest research from MasterCard Inc. indicates some 60% of consumers are now at least aware of …
Read More »In the Race Against the EMV Deadline, Merchant Acceptance And Debit Lag
In the relentless push toward compliance with the Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) smart card standard, two critical factors are lagging behind: merchant acceptance and EMV debit. That’s according to executives who spoke Tuesday at a conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, on EMV and mobile payments. U.S. issuers and merchants face an …
Read More »Mobile Now Controls More than One-Fourth of Online Transactions, Key Report Says
More evidence emerged in recent days to document the surging rise of mobile payments worldwide. For the first time, mobile transactions account for more than 25% of all global online traffic on the Adyen platform, the company said while releasing its quarterly Mobile Payments Index last week with statistics on the …
Read More »As Apple Closes in on Samsung, the Rivals Get Set to Lock Horns in M-Payments
With Apple Inc.’s record results in the fourth quarter, the computer giant appears to be closing in on long-time rival Samsung for dominance in the crucial worldwide smart-phone market. Meanwhile, Samsung is working to catch up with Apple Pay, the highly publicized mobile-payments service Apple launched in October. For now, …
Read More »Despite Top Court’s Rebuff, Merchants Seek Debit Relief With Fed’s Own Data
The U.S. Supreme Court may have rebuffed merchants seeking to cut debit card transaction costs, but that doesn’t mean they’re entirely out of options. On Thursday, the Merchant Advisory Group, a Minneapolis-based trade group that counts big-box stores and airlines among its 175 members, released a 16-page white paper using …
Read More »EBay Announces It Will Cut 2,400 Jobs Globally As PayPal Posts Surging Growth
Last year was a rocky one for eBay Inc., and on Wednesday the company announced it will do some streamlining: In the first quarter, the PayPal Inc. parent company, which reported a $41 million net loss for 2014, will lop off 2,400 jobs across all of its operating units, or …
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