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A humble Frank Bisignano told top non-bank acquirer executives Thursday that his company, processing giant First Data Corp., wasn’t “always good” at listening to its clients and asked the audience to hold him “personally accountable” for the company’s performance in the coming year. Bisignano, a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. …
Read More »Discover Exec Warns Top ISO Execs They Face Loss of Relevance in Wake of Apps
The arrival of technology companies and other new players in the payments business has left merchant processors scratching their heads over how to work with these emerging brands. Companies like Apple Inc., which has the potential to change both consumer and merchant behavior, have sent independent sales organizations scrambling to …
Read More »Heartland CEO Predicts Apple Pay Will Force MCX To Abandon Mobile-Wallet Exclusivity
Never one to mince words, Bob Carr, chief executive of the big merchant acquirer Heartland Payment Systems Inc., predicts that demand for Apple Inc.’s new Apple Pay mobile-payment service will force the retailer-controlled Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) to abandon a policy of requiring its members to accept only MCX’s CurrentC …
Read More »Boku Emboldens Mobile Carrier Billing Position With mopay Acquisition
San Francisco-based Boku Inc. has bought mopay Inc., bolstering its position among carrier billers, Boku announced Tuesday. Germany-based mopay, with a U.S. office in Palo Alto, Calif., says it processes more than 5 million monthly transactions and works with more than 400 mobile operators. Boku has built connections to …
Read More »Separation from PayPal Will Likely Free eBay to Add Wider Range of New Payments
One implication of the breakup of PayPal Inc. and its parent company eBay Inc., announced by eBay earlier this week and planned for next year, is that eBay will likely be free to add a slew of alternative-payment methods for sellers to accept on its online marketplaces. For years, eBay …
Read More »Walgreens Adds Western Union Money-Transfer Services to More Than 7,650 Stores
Finding a kiosk to make money transfers via Western Union Co. has become easier if there is a Walgreens or Duane Reade store nearby. Western Union and Walgreens announced this week a deal that makes Western Union money transfers available at the existing photo kiosks inside more than 7,650 Walgreens …
Read More »In an About Face, eBay Announces It Will Spin off PayPal Next Year
Somewhere, Carl Icahn is smiling. Ebay Inc.’s top management announced early Tuesday that the online auction pioneer is beginning preparations to spin off its PayPal Inc. unit some time in the second half of next year in a transaction that will result in eBay and PayPal operating as two independent, …
Read More »MCX’s InComm Deal Might Give Currency To the Idea That Its Network Is Building Momentum
Prepaid card services provider InComm Holdings Inc. announced today that it has struck a “strategic partnership” with Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX), parent firm of the fledgling mobile-payments network owned by merchants and recently branded as CurrentC. But exactly what the partnership will do for the long-aborning MCX is not clear. …
Read More »Banks’ Out-of-Network ATM Fees and Overdraft Fees Again Set Records
By Jim Daly Average out-of-network ATM fees set a record in 2014 for the eighth straight year by rising 5.3% to $4.35 per transaction, well above a 1.5% increase in 2013 but close to their 17-year average, according to Bankrate Inc.’s annual study of checking-account fees. Overdraft fees set a …
Read More »Two Payments Companies Target Improving E-commerce and M-commerce Conversion Rates
Frustration with typing in a 16-digit payment card number on a smart-phone screen leads to a lot of lost sales for e-commerce merchants. It’s a problem that two payments companies, offering different products, say they can help with. Making its U.S. debut first is PayItSimple USA Inc., an installment-payment service. …
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