Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
A revised set of network fees from Visa Inc. could hit merchant aggregators hard when the revisions take effect next April, according to payments-industry sources. Depending on the size and number of aggregators’ sponsored merchants, the revisions could significantly boost actual fee payments as well as drive up programming and …
Read More »ETA Seeks A More Visible Presence at Regional Acquirer Conferences
Payments industry professionals attending one of the four regional acquiring conferences can expect to see more from the Electronic Transactions Association at the events. n “This is a conscious effort on the part of the ETA to participate, support them, and engage in mutually beneficial activities,” Oxman tells Digital Transactions …
Read More »Banks That Sued Trustwave and Target Have Second Thoughts and Withdraw Lawsuit
Two banks that sued Target Corp. and data-security services provider Trustwave Holdings Inc. in the wake of Target’s massive data breach have withdrawn their federal lawsuit after filing it only a week ago, leaving payments-industry observers wondering why they brought the action in the first place. In separate motions filed …
Read More »Using Payment Card Data, Index Brings Personalized Shopping to In-Store Customers
E-commerce retailers have a unique advantage over their brick-and-mortar counterparts. They typically know quite a bit about a shopper’s purchasing habits, and that helps them create personalized offers that bring back customers to spend more. Index, a San Francisco-based company, hopes to give large brick-and-mortar retailers a tool to enable …
Read More »Mercury Payment Systems Files Registration Statement for Possible IPO
The merchant-acquiring industry might soon get another publicly traded company should independent sales organization Mercury Payment Systems Inc. follow through on plans to sell a minority stake in the company. n Mercury Payment Systems Inc.’s operating subsidiary, Mercury Payment Systems LLC, currently is 62% owned by an affiliate of private-equity …
Read More »It’s Wal-Mart vs. Visa in Yet Another Payment Card Interchange Battle Royal
They’ve met in court before, and it looks like they’re going to meet again: Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the No. 1 retailer, against Visa Inc., the No. 1 payment card network. As usual, the subject is interchange and payment card acceptance rules. Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart is suing Visa for alleged violations …
Read More »Target Clarifies Number of Consumers Affected by Breach, Claims Data Security Improving
Target Corp. told a U.S. Senate committee Wednesday that the overlap in the number of consumers affected by the two-headed monster of its data breach may be 12 million or more. The nation’s No. 2 general retailer also said it is improving its data security in the wake of the …
Read More »Burger King Has Its Way With a New Mobile-Payments and Loyalty App
It may perennially trail McDonald’s Corp. among the leading U.S. hamburger chains, but Burger King Worldwide Inc. is on track to take the lead in mobile payments. Miami-based Burger King this week said it plans to roll out a smart phone app offering mobile payments and digital-coupons beginning in April. …
Read More »Report Documents the March of Online Alternatives to the Payments Mainstream
Alternative payments? So many people are now using services such as PayPal, Amazon Payments, Google Wallet and others that the term is becoming outmoded. In a new report, Javelin Strategy & Research says eight in 10 online shoppers have used an online alternative payment service in the past year, and …
Read More »With Calls for Change Mounting, Visa And MasterCard Launch Industry Security Group
In the wake of high-profile retailer data breaches and mounting political pressure to address security flaws in the nation’s payment card system, Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. on Friday said they were forming a “cross-industry group” to enhance payment security. The leading card networks said in a joint news release …
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