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Prepaid debit cards linked to tax-advantaged employee flexible-spending accounts (FSAs) for medical expenses have been growing quickly in recent years, but they got a big boost this week when leading retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced it had implemented technology that will spare the customer from sorting FSA-qualifying items from ineligible …
Read More »Invitations for PayPal’s Virtual Debit Card ‘Beta’ Top 3 Million Users
More than 3 million PayPal users have been invited to try the online processor's virtual debit card since it was introduced in July, a PayPal executive responsible for the product tells Digital Transactions News. That represents almost 10% of PayPal's total active account base. The card, which links to users' …
Read More »Canada’s Interac EFT Network Sets Record for Debit Card Transactions
Interac, Canada's national electronic-funds transfer network, announced recently it processed more point-of-sale debit card transactions on Dec. 22 and 23 than in any two-day period in its 22-year history. The network handled 31.2 million transactions over the period, 1 million more than the previous two-day record, set in 2005. Unlike …
Read More »Merchants Look to Lure Gift Card Recipients As 2006 Wanes
Disappointed by holiday sales, some retailers are turning to advertising to induce gift card recipients to use their cards before New Year's Day, according to press accounts. Chains are using both TV and newspaper ads in the effort. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Sears Holdings Corp. have turned to TV to …
Read More »MasterCard Targets Unbanked With Prepaid Retailer Network
MasterCard prepaid cards received new utility this week when MasterCard Worldwide launched a network of retailers, dubbed MasterCard rePower, at whose locations cardholders can use cash to add value to MasterCard- and Maestro-branded prepaid cards. The first rePower reload transaction took place Monday at a Village Pantry convenience store in …
Read More »Wall Street Discovers a New Darling: Payment Card Networks
Less than a year ago, the only publicly traded payment card network stock was that of American Express Co. With Tuesday's announcement by investment-banking giant Morgan Stanley that it will spin off its Discover Financial Services LLC unit, the No. 4 network, there could be four. MasterCard Inc.'s May initial …
Read More »Visa Announces PCI Compliance Carrots to Go Along With Sticks
Hoping to push up compliance with its data-security rules, Visa USA on Tuesday announced first-ever incentives?including cash payments–to go along with new penalties for acquiring banks that serve the 1,200 largest Visa-accepting merchants. The carrot-and-stick package, intended to get acquirers to bring more merchants into compliance with the Payment Card …
Read More »Canadian Test in 2007 Foreshadows a National Chip Rollout
Visa, MasterCard, and Canada's national debit network are preparing to launch a test in Ontario for a Canadian chip and PIN system that its backers hope will ultimately eliminate the magnetic stripe on all cards and replace signatures on all Visa and MasterCard credit cards. The test will start next …
Read More »Seeking More Capacity, AmEx Turns to eFunds for Prepaid Processing
Payment processor eFunds Corp. will take over the processing of American Express Co.'s fast-growing retail and gift card portfolio in 2007 and 2008 under a deal announced Wednesday. The deal, financial terms of which were not released, is the biggest prepaid contract to date for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based eFunds, which focuses …
Read More »Visa Champions Fed Proposal on Receipts for Small-Ticket Transactions
Small-ticket electronic transactions, particularly those at unattended machines, may get a boost with a proposal that would relax a provision of Regulation E regarding receipts for consumers. The Federal Reserve Board this week requested public comment on the proposal, which would exempt transactions of $15 or less from Reg E's …
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