Friday , December 13, 2024

Kevin Woodward

Kevin's role at Digital Transactions is to write news and features stories for publication on the Web site and in the magazine. He also oversees the digital editorial aspect of the site and the Digital Transactions News daily newsletter.

Samsung Pay’s Mag-Stripe Emulation Advantage Might Be Short-Lived

The debut of Samsung Pay in the United States is just a month away, but the ongoing migration of U.S. credit and debit cards to the EMV chip standard may already be eroding the nascent mobile-payment service’s unique advantage. Samsung Pay uses near-field communication (NFC) and, uniquely, a radio-frequency version …

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With Global Potential Rising for Carrier Billing, Boku Acquires mobileview Italia

By Kevin Woodward San Francisco-based carrier-billing specialist Boku Inc. has bought mobile-payments provider mobileview Italia, Boku announced Thursday. The deal means Boku will provide carrier billing to more than 87 million mobile-carrier subscribers in Italy. Globally, Boku says its service, which enables consumers to make digital purchases using their wireless …

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Samsung Pay Sets U.S. Debut for Sept. 28, With a One-Month Trial Starting Aug. 25

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says its Samsung Pay mobile-payment service, which uses near-field communication and a radio-frequency version of magnetic-stripe data, will debut Sept. 28 in the United States. Some consumers with some Samsung smart-phone and tablet models will be able to participate in a test set to begin Aug. …

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Checkout Startup SelfPay Eyes Expansion With Outside Funding Injection

By Kevin Woodward With more $1 million (Canadian) in new funding, self-checkout app SelfPay looks to expand its reach within retail stores. Toronto-based Digital Retail Apps says the funding, which is approximately $764,402 in U.S. currency, also will be used to secure more patents. Dallas-based Texas Ventures led the funding, …

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PIN-Debit Interchange Drops for Issuers Exempt from Durbin Rate Cap

Issuers are generating less in interchange for PIN and signature debit card transactions than they were 10 years ago, according to the Pulse electronic funds transfer network’s 2015 Debit Issuer Study released Thursday. The study examined transactions made in 2014 from more than 70 debit issuers involving 147 million debit …

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In Health-Care Payments, EMV May Be a Driver, But Dodging PCI Is the Benefit

No category of payment-card-accepting merchants, including health-care providers, is immune from the EMV liability shift coming Oct. 1. Yet, some payments providers specializing in servicing clinics and hospitals say there is a lack of understanding among their clients that goes beyond what acquirers have found in other merchant categories. “Health …

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POS Systems Developers Face Unique EMV Certification Challenges

  As the U.S. payment card industry hurtles toward its EMV destiny approaching on Oct. 1, the process for certifying EMV-compliant point-of-sale terminals is moving along well, albeit with one exception. Point-of-sale systems, which are available in a myriad of configurations with software from one company, hardware from another and …

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U.S. Mobile POS Installations Forecasted To Reach 17.4 Million by 2019

Installations of mobile point-of-sale devices in the United States and Canada will hit 17.4 million in four years, forecasts 451 Research in its “Mobile Point of Sale: Smart Devices Earn a Growing Share of Global Payment Acceptance” report released Thursday. If it proves accurate, that forecast will yield a 155.9% …

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More iPhone 6 Users Are Making More Apple Pay Transactions, Report Says

Nine months after its launch, Apple Pay appears to be steadily establishing itself as an everyday service for consumers wielding iPhone 6 and 6 Plus smart phones. These users are increasing the frequency of their Apple Pay transactions as more consumers adopt the Apple Inc. device. That’s the summary of …

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How a Confidential IPO Could Help Square Frame Its Long-Term Strategy

Square Inc.’s future may include public ownership if reports late last week that it filed for a confidential initial public offering are correct. Both BloombergBusiness and The Wall Street Journal reported the filing, permitted under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act, which enables companies with less than $1 billion …

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