Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
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 …
Read More »After Overstock, Klarna Looks To Add 50 to 60 U.S. Merchants By Year’s End
By Kevin Woodward Klarna, a Sweden-based payments company that enables consumers to take 14 days to pay for online purchases, says its deal announced Tuesday with Overstock.com is the first of many it expects to make with e-commerce retailers this year. Retailer Overstock.com sells a broad range of merchandise, and …
Read More »The New PayPal.Me Makes P2P Payments Personal
PayPal Holdings Inc. is jumping into the free personalized person-to-person payments game with the launch of PayPal.Me. Announced Tuesday, PayPal.Me enables consumers to create personalized permanent links to share with others. When clicked, the links then present a Web page for senders to select the amount and the payment …
Read More »Growing Mobile Use Among Consumers Is Attracting More Criminals, Says New Report
Growing consumer use of mobile devices like smart phones is making the devices more attractive to criminals trying to capture payments data. That’s the assessment from ThreatMetrix Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based data-security company, in its “Cybercrime Report: Q2 2015” report, which analyzed more than 75 million attacks that were …
Read More »Peril of New Chargebacks Could Bring EMV Into Focus for Unaware Merchants
A significant chunk—44%—of small-business owners have no knowledge of the EMV liability shift coming Oct. 1. That finding from “Small Business EMV Readiness,” a report released by Javelin Strategy & Research this week, suggests that many might be in for a shock when their merchant-processing statements arrive in November and …
Read More »Lying in Wait, Cyber Thieves Lick Their Chops in Anticipation of EMV Shift
The transition to an EMV-based payment card system in the United States could spur a long and sophisticated series of criminal attacks designed to separate consumers and banks from their funds. That’s one possible consequence, says Michael Bruemmer, vice president at Experian Information Solutions Inc.’s Data Breach Resolution group. “Cyber …
Read More »AmEx Adds Rewards to Its Serve Prepaid Card, But Will Users Find It Worth the Price?
American Express Co. is offering new rewards and benefits for using one of its prepaid cards, but at a cost. The card brand and acquirer on Wednesday added a rewards program to its Serve card under the “Serve Cash Back” moniker. Serve Cash Back users, who pay $5.95 per month …
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