Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
For all the publicity phishing has received in the past year as a rapidly growing and particularly insidious form of electronic fraud, it figures as a source of information in identity-fraud cases only 1.7% of the time when the method behind the crime is known. Indeed, online channels as a …
Read More »AmEx: Walgreen’s Changed Its Mind Without Pricing Concessions
American Express Co. made no pricing concessions to Walgreen's Co. to keep the pharmacy giant accepting AmEx cards, a top executive says. Responding to questions from securities analysts during a conference call yesterday to discuss AmEx's fourth-quarter and year-end 2004 results, Gary L. Crittenden, chief financial officer at the New …
Read More »Discover Scores a Volume Coup with GE/Wal-Mart Network Deal
Discover Financial Services Inc.'s deal with GE Consumer Finance Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will lead to a huge volume boost for Discover and help the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company offer pricing to potential issuing partners that exceeds the interchange income they can get from Visa and MasterCard, an expert observer …
Read More »PayPal Racks up Big Fourth-Quarter Gains in Traffic and Accounts
PayPal Inc. saw the volume of transactions it handled in the fourth quarter last year soar 46%, to 99.6 million, over the same period in 2003, while dollar volume climbed fully 51% to $5.6 billion, according to data released this week by the online transaction processor's parent company, eBay Inc. …
Read More »ReD Beefs up Technology to Combat Growing Swarms of Fraudsters
E-commerce gateway Retail Decisions Inc. has announced enhancements to its anti-fraud technology that will, among other things, cut the number of transactions online retailers must refer for manual review by up to 30%. The Hazlet, N.J.-based operating unit of U.K.-based Retail Decisions PLC has integrated neural-networking technology called Prism and …
Read More »Walgreen’s Decides to Keep Taking AmEx Cards After Cutting New Deal
Pharmacy giant Walgreen's Co., which a month ago announced it would stop accepting American Express cards effective today, has reversed itself, announcing it will continue taking AmEx cards after reaching a new multi-year deal with the card company. Terms of the new arrangement were not released. “We were able to …
Read More »PayPal Says It Will Stop Blocking of Payments Backed by Credit Cards
PayPal Inc. has announced it will no longer allow sellers that have bank accounts registered with the San Jose, Calif.-based processor to block payments funded by credit cards, effective next month. Sellers' ability to refuse such payments has been part of the company's “Payment Receiving Preferences” policy for so-called premier …
Read More »Discover Seals Its Pulse Acquisition Following Pulse Members’ OK
Discover Financial Services Inc. and Pulse EFT Association announced today that Discover's $311-million acquisition of the Houston-based electronic funds transfer network, announced in November, has closed. The deal's completion follows approval of the merger by Pulse's member banks, and, according to Discover, more than doubles the company's U.S. card base …
Read More »GTCR Will Keep Its Grip on VeriFone Even After the Proposed IPO
VeriFone Inc. will continue to be controlled by GTCR Golder Rauner LLC, a Chicago-based private equity firm, and its current chief executive, Douglas Bergeron, will continue to be a major shareholder even after the San Jose, Calif.-based point of sale terminal maker completes its proposed initial public offering of stock. …
Read More »WaMu’s Move to MasterCard Underlines Intense Card Competition
Washington Mutual Inc.'s decision to switch its 10.5-million-card debit portfolio to MasterCard International from Visa U.S.A., though a big win for MasterCard, doesn't necessarily herald a trend, observers say. At the same time, it throws into relief a bylaw Visa quietly put into place in 2003 that penalizes large debit-card-issuing …
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