Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Reflecting recent trends noted by the payment card networks, merchant processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc. reported on Thursday that it is beginning to see a turnaround in charge volume at merchants battered for the past two years by the retrenchment in consumer spending. Heartland also disclosed that it has expensed …
Read More »Even Vendors See a Far-off Horizon for End-to-End Encryption
End-to-end encryption of payment card data is all the rage among vendors to the merchant-acquiring industry, but vendors themselves believe it will take a long time for merchants to begin using their new technology. Asked how long they believe it will take for the majority of U.S. card-accepting merchants to …
Read More »MasterCard Aims for Faster Authorizations, More Message Data
While Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. are shelling out big bucks for the loyalties of card issuers and merchants (Digital Transactions News, April 29), they’re also adding technological muscle to attract more transaction volume to their networks. In the latest example, MasterCard on Monday announced a host of upgrades to …
Read More »As Its PayPal Program Unfolds, Star Zeroes in on Online PIN Debit
Six months after announcing it will process online PIN-debit transactions through PayPal Inc., the Star electronic funds transfer network has signed a number of member banks for the new service, with “implementations in progress,” says Julie Saville, vice president for product management at Star. Despite the tie-up with PayPal, however, …
Read More »Canada Will Enforce Its Payments Code with Regs, If Necessary
After five months of discussion, the Canadian government is out with the final draft of its Code of Conduct for the payments industry. The merchant-friendly code is supposedly voluntary, but proposed legislation could force it upon payments companies that don't adopt it on their own by May 17. “Payment card …
Read More »ViVOtech Says Its Contactless PIN Pad Will Pave the Way for Mobile
ViVOtech Inc., perhaps best known as a maker of readers that enable contactless card transactions, this week plunged further into the point-of-sale business with the introduction of a PIN pad capable of processing contactless payments. The device, known as the ViVOpay 8100, brings the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company into closer …
Read More »After a Dip in ’09, Prepaid Card Usage Is Back on the Rise, Expert Says
Consumer usage of prepaid and gift cards declined last year, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. Javelin estimates that the percentage of U.S. adults who had used a prepaid or gift card in the preceding 12 months fell from 66% in 2008 to 61% in 2009. …
Read More »Gonzalez Sentence Is No Deterrent to Hackers, Security Expert Warns
The 20-year sentence imposed last week on Albert Gonzalez of Miami, the computer hacker who led the attack on Heartland Payment Systems, TJX Cos., and other major retailers, won't deter future data breaches, a security expert says. Gonzalez, leader of the largest hacking and identity-theft ring ever prosecuted by the …
Read More »BofA’s Move on Debit Card Overdrafts Could Herald Big Revenue Drain
Bank of America Corp.'s decision to stop offering overdraft protection on debit card transactions casts a spotlight on billions of dollars in fee revenue issuers earn from cardholders that could drain away if the bank's move becomes a trend. It could also be a harbinger of a move by consumers …
Read More »Small Banks No Longer Immune to Payments Fraud, Stats Show
Attempted check fraud declined in 2008 for the first time in years, but overall check-fraud losses continued to climb while debit card fraud hit small banks especially hard, according to new statistics from the American Bankers Association on demand-deposit-account fraud. A preview of the latest ABA report was presented on …
Read More »