Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Consumers are more loyal to the form of payment they prefer than they are to any particular retail brand, a situation that could work to the benefit of card issuers and processors but also merchants, a retail consultant says. In a survey cited by Gary Charboneau, president of Wakefield, R.I.-based …
Read More »Credit Card Veteran Saunders Says He’s Hip to Electronic Payments
Visa International Inc. on Tuesday reported that it has named Joseph W. Saunders, the card-industry veteran it selected as interim leader of Visa Inc. in February, as the entity's permanent chairman and chief executive officer as it prepares to unify its far-flung regional organizations and become a publicly held company. …
Read More »Approached by Suitors, eFunds Starts a ‘Strategic Review’
Processor eFunds Corp. today gave further momentum to a financial transformation of the transaction-processing business by announcing that it has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. to explore what it calls “strategic alternatives” that could result in a merger. The eFunds disclosure comes just over a month after announcements …
Read More »Soaring Debit Traffic Helps Propel Revenue And Profit at MasterCard
Surging U.S. debit card traffic is helping to propel revenues and profits for MasterCard Inc. as the Purchase, N.Y.-based network marks its first full year as a publicly held company. Point-of-sale debit card activity for the company hit 1.5 billion transactions in the first quarter, up fully 48% over the …
Read More »Some PCI Progress, But Visa Sends a List of Non-Compliant Software
Amid highly publicized data breaches at major chains like TJX Cos. Inc. and Stop & Shop Supermarket Cos., large merchants are making progress in achieving compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI), though nearly two-thirds of them have still not been certified as meeting the standard. Some 35% …
Read More »Tempo Boosts Merchant Base with Its Chase Paymentech Deal
Fledgling PIN-debit network Tempo Payments Inc. this week reported that Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, the nation's largest merchant acquirer, is now offering Tempo acceptance. With Chase processing for more than 500,000 merchants, the agreement opens a huge new acceptance base to San Mateo, Calif.-based Tempo, though whether that potential is …
Read More »With New GM, PCI Council Plans Webinars And Rules Update
With its first top executive in place, an industry consortium formed last year to promote the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI) is getting set to elect a board of advisors, launch educational programs for merchants, and conduct a meeting aimed at updating the security rules. The announcements come in …
Read More »Visa Hikes Overall Interchange 0.6%, Effective April 14
In a terse announcement released on Thursday, Visa USA said its overall effective interchange rate for the coming year will be 1.77%, up 0.6% from the 2006 systemwide rate. Without giving further details about its new rates, Visa said it will post a rate card laying out its entire schedule …
Read More »Having Snagged 2Checkout, ATM Direct Aims at More Merchants
A processor that allows consumers to pay online with their PIN debit cards signed its second merchant this week and expects 18 more by the end of the year, including two more this quarter. “I feel good about the conversations we're having now with top online merchants,” says Robert Ziegler, …
Read More »HSBC’s New Rewards Program Could Spark Growth for Tempo
Tempo Payments Inc.'s alliance with HSBC Retail Services appears to be bearing fruit. HSBC's new OptiPay loyalty-rewards PIN-payment program, announced earlier this week, will be the first outside card program to run on Tempo's network. Positioned as a low-cost alternative to the major payment card networks, San Mateo, Calif.-based Tempo …
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