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Losses to identity fraud will be hard to reduce unless banks and other financial-services providers begin working harder to recruit consumers to look after their own accounts, a noted researcher said on Wednesday. “The important change that needs to happen today is a much stronger partnership between the person who …
Read More »M-Commerce Spawns New Forms of Money Laundering, U.S. Warns
The rise of mobile phones in South Asia, Africa, and Latin America is bringing many benefits to lesser-developed countries, but the simultaneous rise of mobile banking is creating new opportunities for money laundering, according to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and …
Read More »Smart Card Marketing, HomeATM Enable PIN Debit Online, at Stores
In a move that could further the penetration of Internet-based PIN debit, a San Antonio-based processor of prepaid card transactions has adopted a device that will allow users of its electronic-wallet service to load their accounts online with credit cards and PIN debit cards. Smart Card Marketing Systems Inc., which …
Read More »PCI Council Streamlines Self-Assessment Forms, Targets Software
Merchants like to gripe about the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI) nearly as much as they like to complain about interchange, but a new set of questionnaires for merchants to use with their PCI assessments could reduce the irritation factor. The new, so-called Self Assessment Questionnaire from the PCI …
Read More »Debit Traffic Now Bigger Than Credit Transactions for MasterCard
The weakening U.S. economy that's provoking angst in Washington and on Wall Street has yet to crimp No. 2 payment card network MasterCard Inc., which on Thursday reported strong fourth-quarter financials and transaction growth. MasterCard, however, is seeing a shift away from discretionary spending and toward so-called “everyday” purchases such …
Read More »Visa Reports Mid-Sized Merchants Are Making PCI Progress
Merchants accounting for two-thirds of Visa Inc.'s U.S. transaction volume have validated compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, or PCI, Visa reported on Tuesday. This latest report from Visa comes in the wake of a Dec. 31 deadline for so-called Level 2 merchants?mid-sized merchants that submit 1 million …
Read More »Global Payments Looks to New Platform for Faster Merchant Integration
Having introduced a new processing platform to ease integration with payment software and hardware products, Global Payments Inc. on Wednesday announced it will work with NitroSell, a supplier of shopping-cart software, to allow NitroSell's merchants to process e-commerce transactions on the new system. Atlanta-based Global Payments last week announced it …
Read More »Banks Comfortable with Prepaid Cards–Possibly Too Comfortable
Financial-institution issuers of prepaid cards usable on general-purpose payment networks such as Visa and MasterCard are making money, but they may be missing opportunities by not exploring new market niches or checking out networks other than the one they already use. Those are some of the findings released Monday from …
Read More »Citibank’s ATM Restriction Spotlights Rising Withdrawal Limits
A recent effort by Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank to minimize the effects of a spate of fraud by cutting some customers' daily ATM withdrawal limits in the New York City area has cast some light on a dim corner of the payment industry. Daily withdrawal limits on ATMs are up dramatically …
Read More »TJX Settles with Financial Plaintiffs in Breach Case?with One Holdout
TJX Cos. Inc. late on Tuesday said it has settled with three banking associations and three individual banks that sued the off-price retailer in the wake of a data breach that potentially compromised nearly 100 million credit and debit card numbers. That leaves just one Alabama community bank still in …
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