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International Merchant Services Inc., which has taken on all new senior management over the past 11 months, is launching a new marketing blitz this week whose underlying message might be characterized as impatience with the electronic transactions business. Hoping to accelerate the progress of promising payment technology that for a …
Read More »House Committee Passes Interchange Bill, But Scraps Panel of Judges
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee passed the controversial Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 on Wednesday on a 19-16 vote, but with a significant change. The marked-up bill no longer includes a provision that would have established a three-judge panel to arbitrate interchange pricing should merchants and the bank …
Read More »A MyGallons Rival Emerges to Let Users Lock in Gas Prices
While MyGallons LLC struggles with issues surrounding the launch last week of its prepaid card that lets consumers hedge the price of gas (Digital Transactions News, July 7), another startup is emerging with a similar business model. Boynton Beach, Fla.-based GasBankUSA LLC plans to start issuing debit cards later this …
Read More »Gasoline Marketers Underwhelmed by New Visa Interchange Rates
With complaints from fuel marketers reaching a crescendo, Visa Inc. introduced on Thursday a sweeping new credit and debit card interchange rate structure for gasoline that leaves sellers better off for many consumer credit card transactions over $30. In conjunction with the new rates, the card network also announced it …
Read More »FTC, DoJ Are Leery of Bills That Would Regulate Interchange Rates
Congress may be taking the week off for its annual Fourth of July recess, but the interchange fireworks are sure to resume after lawmakers return next week. Banks and the payment card networks, which oppose the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 in the House of Representatives and its …
Read More »A PCI Deadline Approaches for Internet Application Security
Yet another important security deadline is at hand. On Monday, the PCI Security Standards Council, the independent body that administers the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, will make mandatory protection measures in its rules about Internet-facing software applications that the Council currently classifies as best practices. While the PCI rules …
Read More »Processors, Merchants Fret As Card-Reporting Measure Advances
Just as some merchant-acquiring industry lobbyists predicted earlier this year, a revenue-generating proposal that would force acquirers to report their clients' card-based sales to the Internal Revenue Service is making headway in Congress. The proposal is part of the Senate's foreclosure-relief bill that could be up for a vote as …
Read More »Free-Terminal Kingpin Launches Integrated POS System for Merchants
It spawned the free-terminal craze, but now merchant processor United Bank Card Inc. is launching a service called Harbortouch POS intended to put the margin back into equipment sales to merchants. Harbortouch's business case is built on integrated hardware and software systems that perform a host of business-management functions, payments …
Read More »After Abruptly Shuttering Its Service, Assurz Files for Bankruptcy
Assurz Inc., the 3-year-old company that sought to boost consumer confidence in making Internet transactions by offering money-back guarantees on behalf of online merchants, filed for protection under Chapter 7 of the federal bankruptcy code on Monday. The company earlier this month abruptly shut down its service, leaving a trail …
Read More »Revolution Money Aims for 1 Million Merchants, Cardholders by Year End
Nine months after its official launch, Revolution Money Inc.'s PIN-secured credit card is being accepted at 150,000 merchants, a number a top executive at the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based alternative-payments provider says will reach 1 million by year's end. David Cautin, senior vice president and general manager for online business at …
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