Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Recent U.S Department of Justice demands for documentation about the payment card networks' acceptance rules have the merchant-acquiring industry wondering if the networks are in for another confrontation with antitrust authorities. If so, the issue will involve how much freedom card-accepting merchants should have to seek other forms of payment …
Read More »As with Visa, MasterCard Sees Debit Growth Offsetting Credit Malaise
Like the other payment card networks that recently reported their quarterly financials, MasterCard Inc. saw softening volumes in the third quarter. Things worsened in October but, like bank card rival Visa Inc., MasterCard's debit business is holding up much better than credit in what MasterCard president and chief executive Robert …
Read More »In the U.S., Visa Banks on Debit As Credit Growth Goes Negative
Debit cards have been growing faster than credit cards for years now in the United States, but they'll be more important than ever for Visa Inc.'s growth in the near term as wary banks rein in lending. With the weakening economy, what had been slow credit card payment growth went …
Read More »Taxes and Morgan Stanley Erode Discover’s Settlement Gains
No. 4 payment card network Discover Financial Services will receive $2.75 billion from Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. through the settlement of a long-running antitrust lawsuit, Discover and the bank card networks announced yesterday. Discover, however, may actually pocket less than one-third of that amount after paying taxes and a …
Read More »‘Interesting Times’ Await ISOs As Congress Eyes Card Legislation
Merchant acquirers and independent sales organizations took a hit in Congress this year when a reporting provision passed, but other legal threats?along with possible opportunities?await next year. That's the word from payments executives and lawyers who stay abreast of Washington affairs and who spoke at an ISO conference Wednesday in …
Read More »A Major Merchant Tells What It Wants To See in POS Technology
Agents with independent sales organizations or even large merchant processors trying to sell prospective merchants on new point-of-sale technology can get the attention of decision makers, but only if they anticipate how a smart merchant will make a complex buying decision, a senior executive with the nation's largest restaurant chain …
Read More »More Big Merchants Comply, But PCI Likely Still Foreign to Small Fry
New data from Visa Inc. show more of the largest merchants now meet the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, or PCI. But the level of validated PCI compliance among small merchants?the overwhelming majority of businesses that accept credit and debit cards?likely remains much lower. Visa's latest figures show 81% of …
Read More »New Version of PCI Shows More Flexibility, While PABP Takes Hold
After a summer of discussion, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council on Wednesday officially released Version 1.2 of the PCI data-security standard, the sweeping set of rules for protecting Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and JCB cards and transactions. Wednesday also is the first day for a Visa Inc. …
Read More »How ProPay Plans to Leverage Its Position in eBay Transactions
ProPay Inc., the only third-party payment processor chosen by eBay Inc. to handle transactions under its new all-electronic payment policy, says it is looking to the arrangement for big growth but hasn't yet worked out any projections for how much volume it will generate. “We see this as a growth …
Read More »Interchange: the Unheralded Benefit of Unembossed Cards
Visa Inc. this week announced it would permit the widespread issuance of unembossed consumer credit and debit cards and business debit cards. In doing so, Visa played up the advantages to issuers, including less-complex supply-chain management, quicker activation, the ability to issue cards to customers in person at bank and …
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