Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Hackers frequently go free, but Coventry, R.I., police late Monday night arrested four California men suspected in the recent theft of debit and credit card data from PIN pads at grocery-store chain Stop & Shop Supermarket Cos. While the arrests are certainly good news to Stop & Shop and banks, …
Read More »New Service Launches to Let Cash Customers Pay Online Merchants
A startup processor on Monday launched a service intended to allow consumers to pay online merchants with cash. Retail Expansion Network Inc., Oakland, Calif., says its PaidByCash service will attract consumers who are reluctant to use credit cards online or who don't have bank accounts, and will be cheaper for …
Read More »Stop & Shop’s PIN Pad Breach Follows Similar Cases in Canada
Although many details remain unclear, a security breach at a big supermarket chain in the Northeast bears some resemblance to a sophisticated rigging of point-of-sale equipment to capture PINs and other card data last year in Canada. Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop Supermarket Cos., which has 385 stores in New …
Read More »Community Banks See ‘Survival,’ New Business in Remote Capture
Some 16% of community banks offer remote deposit capture of checks to business customers, and nearly one-third of these say they have adopted the electronic check technology as “an essential survival strategy,” according to a survey released on Monday by the American Bankers Association. At the same time, 65% of …
Read More »A Prosperous Comdata Could Have an Independent Future
It's a classic corporate case of the tail wagging the dog. In particular, it's Comdata Corp., a payment processor and prepaid and fleet card provider that generates more than half the profits of its parent company, Bloomington, Minn.-based Ceridian Corp., even though it accounts for only 30% of the revenues. …
Read More »Kabira Courts Acquirers, Networks for New High-Capacity Switch
Arguing that U.S. transaction processors face pressing needs for both capacity and faster rollout times for new payment methods, a San Mateo, Calif.-based software company specializing in so-called high-performance transaction-processing systems has begun courting merchant acquirers, processors, electronic funds transfer networks, and high-volume merchants for a recently released payments switch. …
Read More »Acquiring Operation Helps Boost Results at a Restructured First Data
Leading payment processor First Data Corp., restructured and without its huge Western Union wire-transfer business, late on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter income from continuing operations of $240 million, up 12% from $214.4 million for the year-earlier period. Greenwood Village, Colo.-based First Data's merchant and international divisions posted strong gains, while the …
Read More »PayPal’s off-eBay Push Hits a Wall After Months of Steady Progress
Despite strong results in its off-eBay merchant-processing business, PayPal Inc.'s efforts to lessen its dependence on the online marketplace of its parent eBay Inc. hit a wall in the fourth quarter of 2006. The San Jose, Calif.-based online processor saw 36% of the $11 billion in transactions it handled in …
Read More »Latest Breach May Force a New Approach to Data Security
The latest and possibly biggest in a series of hacks into retailer and processor databases holding sensitive data about credit and debit card holders may indicate that it's time for a new approach to card security, according to at least one analyst. That calls into question the effectiveness of the …
Read More »Cost Cutting Helps TSYS Boost Profits After a Tough Year
It was a bumpy ride, but Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) emerged from 2006 with some hefty profit growth. The second-largest card processor this week reported fourth-quarter revenues of $503.9 million, up 19.8% from $420.7 million a year earlier, and net income of $87.1 million, up 75.2% from $49.7 million. …
Read More »