Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
The recent massive data breaches at RBS WorldPay Inc. and Heartland Payment Systems Inc. ?two merchant acquirers deemed in compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard by qualified assessors?left many in the industry questioning the effectiveness of the PCI standard. But a newly released report from Verizon Business concludes …
Read More »Now in Pilot, Visa’s Consumer Alerts Set to Roll out Later This Year
Visa Inc. is taking steps to more actively recruit consumers in its fraud-fighting efforts, including the development of an early-warning system that notifies cardholders in real-time when their cards are being used. Visa's Transaction Alert system, currently in pilot at banks including U.S. Bank, PNC Corp., and Wells Fargo & …
Read More »Acquiring Gains at First Data Despite a Tough Merchant Environment
First Data Corp. on Wednesday reported merchant-services revenue of $1.1 billion, up 18%. Excluding debit-network fees and Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, revenue growth was 1%. First Data in November terminated its joint venture with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to operate Chase Paymentech. First Data signed nearly 116,000 domestic merchant locations, …
Read More »To Cut Fraud Losses, Don’t Wait for Chargebacks, Apple Says
Online merchants shouldn't wait for chargebacks to indicate a problem with fraudulent orders. Instead, they should pay attention to other indicators, such as the volume of canceled orders, to anticipate whether a wave of chargebacks is about to hit. That's the argument Dave Moriarty, director of data mining at Apple …
Read More »Higher Fees Could be Rainmakers for the Bank Card Networks
More information is trickling out about new transaction fees planned by Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. While the main ones are slightly under 2 cents per affected transaction, when applied to the vast stream of bank card purchases they could produce more than $600 million in new revenues for the …
Read More »Breach-Related Woes Continue to Pile up for Beleaguered Heartland
The breach-related troubles just keep piling on for merchant acquirer Heartland Payment Systems Inc., according to the acquirer's annual report filed on Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In the filing, Heartland revealed the data breach it sustained last year is under investigation not only by the U.S. …
Read More »Visa Acts Against Heartland, RBS?But Some Say It’s Not Enough
Visa Inc. has kicked breached merchant acquirers Heartland Payment Systems Inc. and RBS WorldPay Inc. off of its list of processors compliant with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, or PCI. That action sent the acquirers to a netherworld known as probation and triggered a debate in the payments industry …
Read More »Hypercom Sees a Hit from the Recession, Exchange Rates
Hypercom Corp. anticipates that the drop in its first-quarter revenues may be larger than in the past due to volatile currency exchange rates, the deteriorating economy, and a tightening credit market, said Philippe Tartavull, chief executive and president. “It is quite clear that our industry as a whole will contract …
Read More »Heartland to Release Breach News?Though When It Can’t Say
Heartland Payment Systems Inc. will be releasing additional information on the recent data breach of one of its payment-processing platforms, though “I can't tell you how soon,” says Robert Carr, Heartland's chief executive. The Princeton, N.J.-based merchant acquirer in January announced that malicious software, or malware, had been secretly planted …
Read More »VeriFone Hopes to Counter Worldwide Slump with Security Push
Reduced buying from merchant acquirers, the stock-market downdraft, and currency fluctuations teamed up to take a big bite out of payment card terminal maker VeriFone Holdings Inc.'s latest financials. VeriFone late Tuesday reported a $182 million loss for its first fiscal 2009 quarter ended Jan. 31, and its boss predicts …
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