Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
The heated rivalry between payment-software firms S1 Corp. and ACI Worldwide Inc. for the loyalty of S1’s shareholders took on yet more urgency on Monday as S1 urged owners of its shares to reject an offer from ACI. In a letter to shareholders seeking proxies in support of a proposed …
Read More »With Durbin Forcing New Network Links, a Software Vendor Sees Opportunity
Looking to capitalize on opportunities fostered by recently created debit card regulation, Lexcel Solutions Inc. on Thursday announced an update to its network-testing software that is aimed at streamlining debit card issuers’ selection of new networks as mandated by the Federal Reserve. The Fed’s June 29 final rule implementing …
Read More »In Buying Access to Money, Cardtronics Will Get Access to 10,350 More ATMs
Capping a wave of recent acquisitions, non-bank ATM network owner and manager Cardtronics Inc. announced late Monday that it had struck a definitive agreement to buy Access to Money Inc., a retail ATM network operator with 10,350 U.S. machines under management. Houston-based Cardtronics will pay $21.2 million in cash …
Read More »How a Google-Motorola Combo Could Be ‘Good News’for NFC in the U.S.
At first glance, the nascent mobile-payments business doesn’t seem to be the major driver of Google Inc.’s $12.5 billion cash acquisition of cell-phone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. The deal, however, could spur payments using near-field communications (NFC) technology as software companies, phone manufacturers, and mobile-communications software companies jockey for …
Read More »By Going Directly to S1’s Shareholders, ACI Hopes to Scuttle Fundtech Deal
ACI Worldwide Inc.’s effort to acquire rival payments-software firm S1 Corp. took a more hostile turn on Monday when ACI said it will go directly to S1’s shareholders, asking them to scuttle a proposed merger between S1 and Fundtech Ltd. The move by Elkhorn, Neb.-based ACI, spelled out in …
Read More »Just As NFC Gains Impetus, An Analyst Casts Doubt on Supply of Phones
With companies like Google Inc., Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc., and the major wireless carriers talking in recent months about near-field communication projects, observers could be forgiven for concluding that NFC-based mobile payments are poised for a breakthrough in the U.S. market. There could be just one problem: no NFC …
Read More »A New Alphabet Soup, VARs and ISVs, Spells An Effective, But Expensive, Channel for Acquiring
Merchant acquirers once relied on independent agents, direct sales, and agent bank relationships to sign up merchants. Now, a new group has entered the picture and is accounting for a rapidly increasing share of new merchant accounts. Value-added resellers and independent software vendors will enroll 15% of all new …
Read More »The DoJ Anoints Gores As the Designated Buyer of Hypercom’s U.S. Assets
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that it had reached a settlement with point-of-sale terminal makers VeriFone Holdings Inc. and Hypercom Corp. that calls for the sale of Hypercom’s U.S. assets to a unit of private-equity firm Gores Group LLC. The settlement removed an obstacle that held up VeriFone’s …
Read More »Eschewing ‘Participation’ Fees, MasterCard Will Sweet-Talk Debit Issuers One by One
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Read More »Isis Backer Verizon Wireless Agrees to Add AmEx’s Serve to Phones And Tablets
n n n n n n n New York City-based Payfone uses a consumer’s mobile-phone number to authorize purchases. AmEx led a $19 million investment in Payfone in April that included the investment arm of Verizon Communications, n
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