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Introduced only last March, the back-office conversion (BOC) e-check application is poised for a big year in 2008, according to a check-services vendor that is processing more than one-third of all BOC volume. “We think there's going to be big growth for BOC in 2008, and we're going to be …
Read More »Free of E-Wallets, ECHO Goes to the Altar with Intuit Once Again
Intuit Inc.'s agreement to buy Electronic Check Clearing House Inc. (ECHO) for $131 million in cash, announced on Wednesday, came about largely because of ECHO's move to shed its gambling-related electronic-wallet business earlier this year, an Intuit executive tells Digital Transactions News. It was that business, in which ECHO processed …
Read More »The FTC and Seven States Sue Processor for Aiding Suspect Merchants
In its seventh action against a payment processor since 2004, the Federal Trade Commission along with seven state attorneys general announced this week they are suing a Lake Mary, Fla.-based check and automated clearing house processor that extracted millions of dollars from consumers by processing fraudulent payments for a suspect …
Read More »PIN Debit And the ACH Among the Big Gainers in Fed Payments Study
PIN debit transactions are growing significantly faster than signature debit payments. Checks processed electronically are approaching half of all checks paid. And transactions on the automated clearing house are growing faster than any other form of payment. These are among the more surprising results of the Federal Reserve's tri-annual payments …
Read More »Back Office Conversion Growth Strong, But Big Gains May Come in ’08
Growth in the new back-office conversion, or BOC, electronic-check code far outpaced growth of all other automated clearing house transaction categories in the third quarter, but don't get too excited yet. BOC only went live March 16, so its 238% increase to 840,743 transactions came off a very small base …
Read More »NACHA Rule Targeted at Cap One’s Decoupled Debit Card, Sources Say
A clarification of a rule regarding transaction aggregation, announced last week by NACHA, was driven chiefly by banks that intended to hamper a new PIN debit card being introduced by Capital One Financial Corp., sources tell Digital Transactions News. The new card, which came to light late this spring (Digital …
Read More »NACHA Tightens Risk Management, Restricts Payment Aggregation
NACHA, the rules-setting body for the automated clearing house network, this week announced membership approval of a rule amendment that will raise fines for unauthorized transactions and cut off ACH access for companies that enter too many such payments into the network. NACHA has also issued a rules clarification that …
Read More »Embroiled in Boardroom Fight, Pay By Touch Gets a Temporary Boss
An outside manager with restructuring experience, Thomas Lumsden of FTI Consulting Inc., is now running financially troubled biometric-payment provider Pay By Touch under terms of a Delaware court order signed Friday, San Francisco-based Pay By Touch announced on Monday. The Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington appointed Lumsden, senior managing director …
Read More »NACHA Close to Recruitment for Test of New Check-ACH Plan
A new plan at NACHA to merge elements of the automated clearing house network with elements of check imaging could allow banks to clear checks more cost-efficiently but may also turn out to be a solution to a problem that's solving itself, experts say. Some 20 financial institutions, ranging from …
Read More »Yodlee Pairs Up with Western Union in Expedited Bill-Pay Play
The already competitive world of electronic bill payments heated up this week with the announcement that wire-transfer leader The Western Union Co. and payment-technology provider Yodlee Inc. together will provide online bill-payment services, including expedited bill payments. Their pitch: direct access to more than 4,000 utilities, financial institutions, mortgage companies, …
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