Acquiring

A small-business trade group and Canada’s leading merchant acquirer reached a deal on Thursday that seemingly ends a dispute that, had it continued on its original course, might have transformed Canada’s seemingly voluntary code of conduct for payments companies into a mandatory one. At issue was a Dec. 30 letter …

The prospect of combining on one contactless card payments for parking and transit fares would seem like a winner for hundreds of thousands of commuters who drive each morning to transit parking lots and then hop on a train or bus to the office. That was one idea floated last …

Tuesday is the final day for commentators to submit their opinions to the Federal Reserve Board about the board’s proposed rules to implement the interchange regulations and other debit card provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law’s Durbin Amendment. Samples from the approximately 2,700 comments that have rolled in over the …

The new Isis mobile-payments venture has recruited some merchants as it builds the acceptance side of its network, the Isis executive overseeing the merchant effort said on Wednesday. “We do have signed merchants at this point,” Jim Stapleton, head of sales and account management at Isis and a veteran of …

Congress heard conflicting testimony Thursday on whether implementation of new debit card restrictions should be delayed. The rules, which were proposed by the Federal Reserve in December as directed by the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, came under attack in House of Representatives subcommittee testimony from financial-institution and network …

The Electronic Transactions Association on Thursday released what it called “guiding principles” that would govern how payment card networks communicate with and implement operational changes that affect merchant acquirers. The guidelines ask the networks to release changes to interchange schedules and operational rules just twice a year and give processors …

ProPay Inc. this week announced a mobile-payments product that lets consumers communicate with as well as pay merchants from a smart phone whether they are in the store or just nearby. The application, which ProPay calls Zumogo, works with a handful of restaurants in the company’s home state of Utah, …

Payment processor Total System Services Inc. sees new opportunities in merchant acquiring while No. 3 credit card network American Express Co. saw a double-digit jump in charge volume in the fourth quarter, an indication of a possible revival in consumer spending. Boosted by its new business from merchant acquirer First …

Mobile payments are getting increasingly competitive, and this week the competition ratcheted up even more. Intuit Inc., maker of the QuickBooks accounting software for small businesses, is now offering a free credit card reader for smart phones to merchants using its GoPayment mobile service. Intuit also is waiving monthly service …

In the wake of the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed interchange caps for debit cards, as well as Visa Inc.’s decision to introduce dual interchange tables for debit, much discussion has focused on the impact of radically reduced interchange income on issuing banks. But an often overlooked factor concerns just how …