Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By the end of 2015, most smart phones sold in the United States will have near-field communication (NFC) capability and be mobile-wallet ready, potentially creating a confluence of payments and commerce, says Matt de Ganon, senior vice president of product at mobile wallet provider Softcard. That prospect excites de …
Read More »PayPal Ad Campaign Stresses Strength in Mobile Security, But Will it BackFire?
PayPal Inc., the payments arm of eBay Inc., says it will process 1 billion mobile payments in 2014, and this experience means it knows something about mobile-payments security. That’s one message PayPal hopes comes across in a new ad campaign appearing in newspapers and online just days after Apple …
Read More »As Questions Linger, Discover Says ‘Me Too’ to Apple Pay
Discover Financial Services cardholders will be able to add their payment cards to Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile payment scheme, the card brand confirmed Wednesday. “Discover is in discussions with Apple to be able to add Discover cards to Apple Pay in the future,” a spokesman tells Digital Transactions …
Read More »Payment Processors Hold Key Tokenization Role In Apple Pay
Payment processors First Data Corp. and Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) will have key roles in securing transactions using tokenization technology for payments consumers make with Apple Inc.’s newly announced Apple Pay mobile-payments scheme. The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant made the announcement as part of its unveiling Tuesday of …
Read More »Eye on Branding: As Wallets Struggle, MCX Dubs Its Scheme CurrentC While Isis Says It Is Now Softcard
The Merchant Customer Exchange, a retailer-controlled mobile payment scheme, has given its service a name. Dubbed CurrentC, the service will not be available outside of testing until 2015. First announced in 2012, the long-gestating scheme aims to give participating retailers their own mobile-wallet service that eschews the traditional payment …
Read More »Square Attempts to Quell Some of Amazon’s Thunder With Post Dispelling ‘Myths’
In a recent blog post, Square Inc. is attempting to counter some of the attention foisted on Amazon.com Inc. after the announcement last week of Local Register, the online retailer’s mobile point-of-sale service, by dispelling the “top 10 myths” about Square’s service. Local Register enables retailers to accept payment …
Read More »Change Is Coming for Agents as Merchants’ Payment Products Evolve
Sales agents as a way to sell payment-processing services to merchants aren’t going away, but they aren’t staying the same. That’s according to a new research report from Double Diamond Group LLC, a Centennial, Colo.-based payments-advisory firm. “This is a period of significant change in acquiring,” says Rick Oglesby, …
Read More »Dubbed Local Register, Amazon’s Mobile POS Service Arrives
Online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. is moving into brick-and-mortar stores with the debut Wednesday of its Local Register mobile point-of-sale service. Similar to other mobile POS services, such as Square Inc.’s, Local Register requires merchants to create an account, purchase a card reader and download an app to a …
Read More »FleetCor Buying Comdata; Gift Card Business May Be On the Block
FleetCor Technologies Inc. is buying payment processor Comdata Inc. for $3.45 billion, Norcross, Ga.-based FleetCor announced Tuesday. The deal gets FleetCor access to four businesses it is not already in, including over-the-road fleet payment services, fuel cards for national accounts, virtual payments and gift cards via Comdata’s Stored Value …
Read More »Future U.S. EMV Card Shipments Could Garner A Larger Share: Report
Shipments of smart cards capable of payments that adhere to the Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) standard are expected to be six times greater in 2014 than in 2013 in the United States, says a new report from ABI Research. That total, forecast to be 154 million this year, is not a …
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