Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
In a deal that will expand its client base of billers by 50%, Online Resources Corp. on Thursday announced it is buying Internet Transaction Solutions Inc. for $45 million in cash and stock. The Chantilly, Va.-based bill-payment processor says ITS, which processes payments for some of the country's largest collections …
Read More »Early Signs Are Positive for Amtrak’s Wireless POS Devices
Wireless card-payment devices deployed systemwide this spring by Amtrak to sell food and beverage items are making a favorable impression on passengers and boosting sales while cutting chargebacks, an executive with the national railroad says. Amtrak is now planning to start using wireless terminals to sell tickets on trains, adds …
Read More »Branded Prepaid Growth Is Lapping That of Private Label, Report Says
The two major sides of today's prepaid card industry, branded or general purpose on one side and private label on the other, both still have enormous growth potential, but the branded side has the stronger prospects, according to a new report from Boston-based financial research firm Aite Group LLC. Aite …
Read More »A House Antitrust Panel Becomes the Latest Interchange Battlefield
The Capitol Hill spotlight shone again on payment card acceptance costs Thursday when a U.S. House of Representatives antitrust panel held a hearing to investigate interchange. At issue is the question whether the federal government should play any role regarding this most controversial aspect of card pricing. Bank interests are …
Read More »Card-Based Bill Payments Take Another Step with Billeo Product
Billeo Inc., whose software streamlines online bill payment for consumers, this week announced new product enhancements that the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company hopes will allow banks to earn more bill-payment revenue. It also extends the company's reach into online shopping with a new software component that automatically fills out online …
Read More »Eyeing Decoupled Debit Cards, Tempo Begins Wooing Bank Issuers
With an eye to Capital One Financial Corp.'s introduction last month of a so-called decoupled debit card product, which relies on settlement through the automated clearing house network and so does not require cardholders to have a demand-deposit account with Cap One (Digital Transactions News, June 7), debit network sponsor …
Read More »Hypercom’s CEO Steps Down Amid Restructuring Moves
It's the summer of change in the executive suites of some major payment-industry companies. Two days after No. 1 processor First Data Corp. named a new chief executive, struggling payment-terminal manufacturer Hypercom Corp. announced that William Keiper, its chief executive for not quite two years, would leave his post Aug …
Read More »The Fed Says Just Four Check Sites Will Handle Paper by 2011
After years of steadily reducing the number of offices processing checks, the Federal Reserve Banks announced on Tuesday they plan to have just four regional centers providing paper check processing services by March 2011. Since the Fed system began restructuring its check-processing operations in 2003, it has already cut the …
Read More »PropertyBridge Brings PIN-less Debit to Residential Rent
PropertyBridge Inc., which handles electronic rent payments on behalf of property managers, plans to launch next month a recurring PIN-less debit option. It is processing some PIN-less transactions now in a test, or so-called “beta,” mode, for an unnamed property-management firm, says Jason Gardner, president of the Oakland, Calif.-based company, …
Read More »TJX Confronts Another Big Bill Linked to Card-Data Breach
The bills from the computer hacking at off-price retailer The TJX Cos. that compromised at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards keep rolling in. The Framingham, Mass.-based operator of the T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and other chains took a pre-tax charge of $20 million ($12 million after-tax) to cover investigative, …
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