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The back-office conversion e-check code has been live for nearly two months now, and, as many predicted with its March 16 debut, it came in like a lamb. There have been few, if any, high-profile product launches or other splashy events associated with the new automated clearing house payment option. …
Read More »Eye on Image Exchange: Volume Quintuples, SVPCO Gains in April
Total image-exchange volume quintupled in the 12 months through March, while the percentage of items clearing at paying banks as images rather than as paper substitute checks grew to 64% from 36%, according to the most recent statistics compiled by the Electronic Check Clearing House Organization. In a further sign …
Read More »First Data’s ViVOtech Stake Could Pay off for Both Companies
ViVOtech Inc., the Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of contactless point-of-sale card readers and mobile-wallet applications, is raising $20 million in its third round of venture-capital funding. The lead investor in this latest round announced this week is none other than First Data Corp., the No. 1 payment-card processor. ViVOtech, First …
Read More »Supreme Court Patent Ruling Won’t Affect Us, DataTreasury Says
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that appears to rein in the ability of certain technology patent holders to press their claims against alleged infringers is likely to have little or no impact on what has been a highly effective enforcement campaign by a company that holds patents bearing on check …
Read More »Banks Are Starting To Go Mobile, But Consumers Are Ho-Hum
Just as banks are starting to jump back into the mobile-banking market, a research report has emerged to indicate consumers may still not be ready to use their handsets for transaction services. Only 8% of online users who own a cell phone say they are interested in using the device …
Read More »Tempo Boosts Merchant Base with Its Chase Paymentech Deal
Fledgling PIN-debit network Tempo Payments Inc. this week reported that Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, the nation's largest merchant acquirer, is now offering Tempo acceptance. With Chase processing for more than 500,000 merchants, the agreement opens a huge new acceptance base to San Mateo, Calif.-based Tempo, though whether that potential is …
Read More »Visa Hopes ‘payWave’ Will Leverage Contactless Adoption Trends
Reversing a marketing decision it made two years ago, Visa USA has attached a brand name to its contactless-payment platform. The name, payWave, will identify Visa's contactless technology around the world, serving the same function as MasterCard Worldwide's PayPass and American Express Co.'s ExpressPay contactless brands. Although the bank card …
Read More »On Interchange, the NRF Turns to the States, Underscoring Sales Tax
If regulation can't be avoided, national trade groups often prefer federal regulation over regulation by states on the theory that one set of rules is less costly and easier to comply with than 50 different sets of rules. But when it comes to interchange, the National Retail Federation is challenging …
Read More »PayPal Logs a Strong Quarter to Cap a New Deal with Yahoo!
PayPal Inc. saw its transaction volume swell 19% in the first quarter, to 177 million payments, while its non-auction business expanded to 39% of all transactions in a performance widely credited with boosting parent eBay Inc.'s financial results for the period. News of the e-commerce transaction processor's performance comes just …
Read More »Chockstone Bought Peppercoin for Card-Linked Loyalty Offerings
Chockstone Inc., a provider of customer loyalty marketing programs and stored-value solutions acquired Peppercoin Inc. for its card-processing and transaction-aggregation expertise, Chockstone’s top executive tells Digital Transactions News. The acquisition of Peppercoin, which will be merged into Chockstone, will allow the loyalty-marketing company to expand its offerings, says Jeff Lipp, …
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