Acquiring

Information Architects Corp., a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based provider of Web-based employee-screening technology, has announced it is entering the market for electronic point-of-sale transactions secured by cardholders' fingerprints. The company says it has acquired a U.S. patent (6,270,011 B1) that covers a fingerprint-scanning methodology for credit cards via scanners deployed at …

Seven founding members announced today the formation of a new regional association serving merchant-level salespersons, ISOs, vendors, processors, and financial institutions in the western United States. Called the Western States Acquirers Association, the new group plans to hold its first conference in November in San Francisco, and is in the …

In the wake of its groundbreaking announcement last week that it had signed up MBNA Corp. as the first U.S. bank issuer on its network, American Express Co. yesterday said the MBNA deal is non-exclusive and that it is actively pursuing such arrangements with “plans to form additional partnerships” in …

First Data Corp. officals vowed today they expect to fight hard to add to the debit business of Concord EFS Inc., the debit processor First Data is buying for $6.9 billion. In a meeting with securities analysts to present 2003 full-year and fourth-quarter results, First Data chairman and chief executive …

The Electronic Transactions Association announced today new initiatives intended to appeal to individual merchant-level sales agents. Traditionally a trade organization for larger ISOs and acquirers, the Washington, D.C.-based ETA says it will give merchant-level salespeople access to ETA products, services, and conferences at reduced rates. While association membership is open …

This week's outbreak of yet another computer-network virus has served as a reminder to the online transactions industry that the networks they rely on for e-commerce?and increasingly for ATM and point-of-sale traffic?are vulnerable to malicious code. Although the latest outbreak, called the “bagle” virus, was quickly brought under control after …

Just weeks after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. informed MasterCard International Inc. that the chain would stop accepting MasterCard debit cards effective next month, the bank card company has released a consumer survey showing that merchants who reject debit cards risk losing sales. Sponsored by MasterCard and conducted by Harris Interactive, best …

Peppercoin Inc., the Waltham, Mass.-based provider of software to process very small online transactions like payments for 99-cent songs, has signed up another new client in the red-hot market for online music. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, a non-profit record label belonging to the Smithsonian Institution, announced it had signed on with …

Nashville, Tenn.-based independent sales organization iPayment Inc. expects on Wednesday to close on its $55 million cash acquisition of an agent-bank portfolio from First Data Corp. The portfolio consists of 18,000 small merchant accounts controlled by 170 agent banks and generating about $4 billion in annual card volume. First Data …

The market for ultra-low-ticket song downloads from online music stores continues to heat up. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has launched a service on its Web-based operation, Walmart.com USA LLC, that offers single songs for 88 cents, or 11 cents cheaper than what has become the 99-cent standard price for songs available …