Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
The leveraged-buyout craze caught up with the electronic-payment processing industry on Monday when No. 1 processor First Data Corp. announced it had struck a $29 billion deal to be acquired by investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Under the plan approved by Greenwood Village, Colo.-based First Data’s board of …
Read More »Eye on M-Commerce: Firethorn, Metavante, ViVOtech, MobileLime
It has been a busy week for mobile banking and payments, with an announcement from Firethorn Holdings Inc. about new bank and carrier signings; from Metavante Corp. about a joint venture to launch a U.S. mobile-payments service; from ViVOtech about a new service to allow over-the-air provisioning of event tickets; …
Read More »Morgan Stanley Outlines Risks for an Independent Discover
Broadening merchant acceptance and negotiating the shoals of merchant pricing will be key parts of Discover Financial Services LLC's strategy to survive and grow once parent company Morgan Stanley spins off the No. 4 payments network. Morgan Stanley, a New York City-based investment bank, late on Friday filed a document …
Read More »A Telecom Processor Rolls out Gateway with Online Phone Billing
A San Antonio, Texas company that specializes in clearing and settling consumer charges for telecommunications companies has signed up seven sellers of digital content for a new online payments gateway that lets users charge downloads to their phone bills. The seven undisclosed merchants are the first clients for what BSG …
Read More »Unfazed by Wal-Mart Pullout, Home Depot Presses on with ILC Plans
Home-improvement giant Home Depot Inc. is pressing on with its plan to get an industrial-loan corporation charter despite a hostile political environment that has only grown stronger over the weekend. Opponents to ILC applications by commercial enterprises notched a victory Friday with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s decision to abandon its efforts …
Read More »An Investor Letter Sparks a Tussle Between the Terminal Kingpins
A letter from a major Hypercom Corp. investor to the point-of-sale terminal maker's chief executive advising a stock buyback and referring to a possible sale of the company, made public Friday in a Securities & Exchange Commission filing, has prompted rival VeriFone Holdings Inc. to target Hypercom customers with an …
Read More »Image Exchange Kicked into a Higher Gear in January, Stats Show
Image exchange and image clearing kicked into a higher gear in January, with more than half a billion items flowing through image-exchange networks for the first time. Just over two years since the Check Clearing Act for the 21st Century (Check 21) became effective, the volume of checks converted to …
Read More »Mobile-Game Sales Rising, But New Content Threatens Growth
Digital games are ringing up solid increases in sales on mobile phones in the U.S., but face rising competition from emerging content like video and full-track music, according to a report released on Monday. Games sold on mobile operators' portals reached $151 million in revenue in the fourth quarter of …
Read More »PayPal Mobile Close to Launching Service for Mobile Web Merchants
PayPal Inc. will introduce a new service for its mobile-payments product, PayPal Mobile, that will allow users to make remote purchases from merchants that have mobile Web sites. Kevin Dulsky, senior director and general manager for PayPal Mobile, revealed the new service during a panel discussion at a prepaid card …
Read More »Visa Chief Lays out Prepaid Plan, Calls for Outreach to Regulators
Visa USA's chief executive on Wednesday outlined a multimarket strategy for prepaid cards, while announcing that convenience-store titan 7-Eleven Inc. has joined Visa's fledgling prepaid reload network and calling for greater efforts to educate regulators about the unique characteristics of prepaid plastic. “There's an incredible opportunity [in the prepaid market],” …
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