Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Good news for online merchants: In 2010, for the second year in a row, fraud losses expressed as a percentage of revenue went down. They came to 0.9%, down about $600 million from 1.2% in 2009, according to the latest research from CyberSource Corp., a unit of Visa Inc. that …
Read More »While Slipping, Credit Cards Will Remain Most-Used Online Payment
Credit cards will continue to dominate online payments for at least the next five years, but they will lose share to debit cards, alternative payments, and prepaid and gift cards, according to new projections from Javelin Strategy & Research. Javelin predicts in its “2010 Online Retail Payments Update and Forecast” …
Read More »WikiLeaks’ Defenders Go on the Attack Against Payment Firms
Supporters of WikiLeaks attacked the Visa and MasterCard Web sites on Wednesday after the bank card networks cut off donation transactions to the controversial online anti-secrecy organization that recently disclosed hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. State Department cables. The attacks, which slowed down the networks’ Web sites or made …
Read More »Why an Online PIN-Debit Provider Expects a Lift from Dodd-Frank
Most of the chatter about who will win or lose when the Federal Reserve Board releases its debit card interchange regulations and related rules mandated by the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law centers on card issuers, payment networks, and merchants. But technology vendors are likely to be affected too. One company that …
Read More »Holiday Season off to Strong Start for Online Merchants
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have ignited a promising start to the 2011 holiday spending season that appears to signal a revival in consumer spirits following a deep recession and wobbly recovery, according to a number of statistical indicators that have been released this week. Transactions on Monday at some …
Read More »Gemalto Combines One-Time Codes, Payments in a Credit Card
Gemalto, a maker of payment cards, said on Wednesday it had developed the first credit card that can generate one-time passwords and also function in point-of-sale devices. The product, which the company calls the Ezio card, is immediately available in commercial quantities in the U.S., though so far no domestic …
Read More »Accertify Will Become Part of AmEx in $150 Million Deal
American Express Co. on Thursday announced it will pay approximately $150 million to buy a software startup in suburban Chicago whose product lets online merchants automate order screening for fraud. Founded in 2007, Accertify Inc. has built a client base that includes Barnes & Noble, Urban Outfitters, and 1800 Flowers …
Read More »With U.S. Bank, Newly Commercial SVP Picks up Momentum
Secure Vault Payments (SVP), a method of e-commerce payment that relies on the automated clearing house, secured its first big-bank supporter on Wednesday with the announcement that U.S. Bank has agreed to offer the service to both consumer and merchant clients. The fifth largest bank in the country, the Minneapolis-based …
Read More »Visa Joins the Parade of Networks Adopting Open Platforms
Third-party software applications linked to payment processors’ and networks’ systems are becoming the name of the game for attracting merchants, and No. 1 network Visa Inc. is now a player thanks to upgrades to the Authorize.Net unit of its new CyberSource Corp. subsidiary. The new features on Authorize.Net’s Developer Center …
Read More »PayPal Heads Into Developer Confab With a Solid Third Quarter
With its developer conference just ahead and new markets such as mobile payments opening up, PayPal Inc. put the oomph in its parent company eBay Inc.’s third-quarter financial report. But with more than 90 active million customers and $22 billion in quarterly payments volume, a question on some minds is …
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