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Discover Financial Services on Tuesday named six prominent merchant acquirers among 50 committed to helping the network bring acceptance of leading online payment system PayPal to more than 2 million physical merchant locations by year’s end. But a notable missing link is No. 1 merchant processor First Data Corp., …
Read More »An Expanded Fed Service May Be the Best Hope for Same-Day ACH
Proponents of same-day settlement of automated clearing house transactions are now pinning their hopes on an enhanced same-day service from the Federal Reserve that contains many elements in a proposal from ACH governing body NACHA that failed last August despite widespread banker support. The beefed-up Fed service, however, still …
Read More »Retailer-Backed MCX Picks Gemalto as Its Digital-Wallet Technology Provider
The retailer-backed Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) mobile-payments system on Wednesday took another step toward its launch with the announcement that Netherlands-based Gemalto N.V. would provide the technology for its mobile wallet. Gemalto, which employs 224 workers at its U.S. headquarters in Austin, Texas, is best known for producing SIM …
Read More »PayPal Eyes a Growing Market for Cash Advances to Credit-Starved Internet Merchants
Merchant cash advances for online retailers suddenly are coming into vogue with the entry of PayPal Inc. into the market. PayPal recently disclosed that it plans to test in its home country a cash-advance program similar to one it has tested in the United Kingdom. Finance companies and merchant …
Read More »AmEx Insures Its Bluebird Prepaid Card, but Enhancements May Not Ensure Success
American Express Co.’s announcement that its low-fee Bluebird prepaid card account will be eligible for insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and offer checking account features could be a move to win more business from its upscale core cardholder base as well as provide more services to Bluebird …
Read More »NEBA Sale Will Close the Book on the Regional Bank Card Processing Associations
The pending acquisition of the processing business of NEBA (formerly the New England Bankcard Association), a Wakefield, Mass.-based bank card issuing and merchant-acquiring association, by processor Primax will mark the end of an era. Founded in 1969, NEBA is the last of the 12 original regional processing associations for …
Read More »Blackhawk Network Gives a Sneak Peak Into Its Inner Workings Ahead of Its IPO
International expansion and broader distribution in the United States are among the major initiatives on tap for gift card and prepaid card seller and program manager Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. to grow its business, according a filing Blackhawk made this week in preparation for its planned initial public offering. Some …
Read More »Mobile-Payments Startup LevelUp Expands Its Footprint With a New Heartland Partnership
LevelUp, the mobile-payments unit of Boston-based SCVNGR Inc., announced a partnership with the big merchant acquirer Heartland Payment Systems Inc. on Thursday that will dramatically expand its national reach with merchants and make its white-label mobile app more affordable to merchants wanting to increase their loyalty marketing. The agreement gives …
Read More »VeriFone Overhauls Its Management Team as It Enters the Post-Bergeron Era
Troubled point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. on Monday announced sweeping changes in its management ranks, appointing four new people to top positions a week after long-time chief executive Douglas Bergeron resigned. One of the key appointments is Eliezer Yanay, who headed San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone’s global research and development, …
Read More »New Data Show Consumers Once Again Are Willing To Pull Out Their Credit Cards
Credit cards began staging a somewhat wobbly post-recession recovery in 2010 and 2011. But new figures from First Data Corp. and Visa Inc. indicate credit card charge volume is back to just about full health. In a mid-March investor presentation, Visa reported that U.S. credit card payment volume increased 11% …
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