Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Heeding a call among businesses for faster and cheaper payments, payments provider Payment Data Systems Inc. has released the Stream general-purpose reloadable (GPR) prepaid card to make it easier for companies to send funds, like commissions or rewards, to contractors or customers. The card, which bears a MasterCard Inc. brand, …
Read More »A Week Out, Merchants Are in a Rush to Get, And Activate, EMV Terminals
The Oct. 1 onset of the EMV-inspired liability shift for fraudulent transactions represents a potential financial impact for retailers, and now with that date only days away, many of them have become eager to get their hands on EMV point-of-sale terminals. Merchants could be on the hook for fees related …
Read More »As Criminals Redouble Their Efforts, Merchants Sustain an Eye-Popping Jump in Fraud
Merchants contend with fraud all the time, but the 2015 edition of the LexisNexis True Cost of Fraud study has found that their fraud costs are tallying 1.32% of revenue in 2015, a whopping 94% increase from the 0.68% rate in 2014. All categories of merchants in the LexisNexis Risk …
Read More »Only 27% of Merchants Are EMV Ready, but a Surge May Be Coming
Expectations of easily getting merchants ready to accept EMV credit and debit cards appear to be misaligned with the reality of the terminalization program. That’s one finding from a survey released Thursday by The Strawhecker Group, an Omaha, Neb.-based payments consultancy. To accept EMV chip cards, merchants must have compatible …
Read More »Card Aggregator Stratos Enlists Eastern Bank in Test
Stratos Inc., developer of the Stratos card that consolidates multiple credit and debit cards into one device consumers carry in their wallets, says Boston-based Eastern Bank will test its partner program. Card aggregators, like Stratos, operate on the premise that U.S. consumers want an easier way to manage all of …
Read More »As the Liability Shift Rapidly Approaches, Free Can Be a Smart EMV Terminal Motivator
With fewer than 300,000 merchant locations ready for EMV chip card transactions—according to Visa Inc.—efforts to get merchants to upgrade to the more fraud-resistant point-of-sale terminals take on greater importance. For example, iPad-based POS system maker ShopKeep.com Inc. last week began offering merchants a free contactless reader that also accepts …
Read More »Better Late Than Never: Apple Pay Arrives Next Week for Discover Cardholders
By Kevin Woodward Cardholders yearning to load their Discover Financial Services cards into Apple Pay have less than a week to wait. Discover announced Wednesday that its cards will work with Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay beginning Sept. 16, the same day Apple releases an updated version of its mobile operating …
Read More »Marketing Strategies Can Help Lower Merchant-Acquisition Costs for ISOs
How much does it cost to acquire a merchant? On average, $693. That’s the word from Adil Consulting, an Omaha, Neb.-based firm specializing in merchant acquiring. That figure, as an average, is highly influenced by a number of variables, Adil Moussa, principal, tells Digital Transactions News. Banks, for example, have …
Read More »Under Payments Vet Averett, AcceptEmail Brings Email-Based Bill Pay to the U.S.
AcceptEmail Inc., an Amsterdam-based bill-payment company, is bringing its service to the United States, and has hired a former bill-payment executive to head its North American efforts. Demand for faster payments and the ability to make mobile bill payments aids AcceptEmail’s North American push, says Peter Kwakernaak, chief executive of …
Read More »Facing Heavy Mobile Usage, Online Retailer Zulily Adopts In-App Apple Pay
Online-only retailer zulily Inc.’s decision to add Apple Pay as an in-app payment option is about making it easier for consumers to shop and pay on a small screen, the women’s and children’s clothing retailer says. The in-app variation of Apple Pay relies on the Touch ID sensor built into …
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