Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
While many brick-and-mortar retailers were disappointed with sales for the 2012 holiday season, online merchants posted respectable gains in the mid-teens, according to new reports. Internet usage tracker comScore Inc. reported on Thursday that e-commerce volume hit $42.3 billion in the November-December holiday shopping season, up 13.8% over $37.2 billion …
Read More »By Launching a Branded Cash-Funding Product, PayPal Turns up Heat on Banks
PayPal Inc. on Thursday took a step closer to providing bank-like account access with its introduction of a branded prepaid card that can be used to fund PayPal accounts. The PayPal My Cash Card, which is the first PayPal-branded prepaid card in the 14-year-old company’s history, allows consumers who lack …
Read More »Online Volume Grows 13% As Mobile Traffic and Bill Me Later Surge
Retail purchases online will reach $318 billion this year, up a healthy 13% from 2011, with mobile transactions accounting for more than 6% of that volume, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. This year marks the first time mobile-originated transactions have accounted for a meaningful share …
Read More »To Reap Mobile Harvest, Online Sellers Must Optimize for Mobile, Braintree Exec Says
If the start of the holiday-shopping season this year has demonstrated anything, it is the new prominence of mobile in the mix of payments. But for all the talk among online merchants about mobile payments, not all will benefit equally from the trend, according to Bill Ready, chief executive of …
Read More »Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Numbers Generally Soar Upward Vs. Last Year
The reports about consumer spending over the long Thanksgiving shopping period extending into today, Cyber Monday, continue to flow ad nauseam in the mainstream press. Digital Transactions News sifted through the statistical stew to find the numerical nuggets of greatest interest to merchant acquirers. The early data indicate that, when …
Read More »Visa Says New Online Authentication Tool Will Cut Risk While Reducing Abandonment
With the fabled Cyber Monday shopping frenzy under way, Visa Inc. launched an authentication tool for online transactions intended to cut fraud while reducing the risk of shopping-cart abandonment. The tool, which Visa calls its Consumer Authentication Service, can be deployed by any Visa issuer starting on Monday. The network …
Read More »Acquiring Giant Vantiv Agrees to Buy Litle & Co. for $361 Million
In a move that will greatly expand its business in card-not-present transaction processing, merchant processor Vantiv Inc. announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Lowell, Mass.-based Litle & Co. for $361 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close later this year and will result in 11-year-old …
Read More »PayPal Now Aims for Consumer Awareness of Its Expanding Merchant Presence
With its “PayPal Offline” initiative to sign point-of-sale merchants for PayPal acceptance well under way, the payments subsidiary of eBay Inc. now is turning its attention to consumers, eBay executives told analysts on Wednesday. “PayPal intends to be everywhere consumers need an easy, safe, secure way to pay,” eBay president …
Read More »Ignorance Is Not Bliss, According to Survey of Sites Compromised by Phishers
Most owners of legitimate sites that have been compromised to support phishing attacks have no idea their site has been violated until some third party tells them, according to a recent survey. But the cluelessness doesn’t end there. Nearly half of owners of compromised sites don’t know how the attack …
Read More »Lack of Mobile Optimization Could Cost Small Online Merchants
With smart-phone usage on the rise, small online merchants are at risk of losing market share because most of them haven’t created e-commerce sites that work smoothly on mobile devices. At the same time, independent sales organizations could lose business if they don’t find ways to help small clients deal …
Read More »