Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Most banks report that their online-banking and bill-pay channels are experiencing no or only modest increases in fraud, according to a new survey from Boston-based research firm Aite Group LLC. But that's no reason to rest easy, says the researcher who oversaw the survey. Aite surveyed 21 of the top …
Read More »Web Performance Could Help Elect the Next U.S. President
Could the 2008 presidential election be influenced by the candidates' Web sites?and in particular, those sites' ability to process online donations? A report released on Wednesday by Gomez Inc., a company specializing in Web-site performance measurement, would seem to suggest it might be. According to an online poll of prospective …
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 »Web Gambling Torpedoes ECHO’s Deal To Be Acquired by Intuit
Merchant processor Electronic Clearing House Inc. and accounting-software giant Intuit Inc. on Tuesday announced that their planned $142 million merger is off. ECHO chairman and chief executive Joel M. Barry laid much of the blame on a federal investigation into Internet gambling that will involve a $2.3 million settlement from …
Read More »Phishing Sets Record As Fraudsters Link Hands Across Borders
The volume of unique phishing attacks hit an all-time high in January, while fraudsters broadened their reach to spoof Web sites they hadn't targeted before, such as social-networking and gambling sites, according to a group that tracks phishing fraud. The number of unique phishing e-mails hit 29,930, up 26% over …
Read More »A Telecom Processor Rolls out Gateway with Online Phone Billing
A San Antonio, Texas company that specializes in clearing and settling consumer charges for telecommunications companies has signed up seven sellers of digital content for a new online payments gateway that lets users charge downloads to their phone bills. The seven undisclosed merchants are the first clients for what BSG …
Read More »MasterCard Raises Some Rates, Lowers Others for Web Retailers
MasterCard Worldwide is playing it both ways regarding its new interchange rate schedule set to take effect in April. Internet retailers will see their acceptance costs decline for some MasterCard credit card transactions but rise for others. It depends on whether the card used for a transaction is a “Core …
Read More »New Service Launches to Let Cash Customers Pay Online Merchants
A startup processor on Monday launched a service intended to allow consumers to pay online merchants with cash. Retail Expansion Network Inc., Oakland, Calif., says its PaidByCash service will attract consumers who are reluctant to use credit cards online or who don't have bank accounts, and will be cheaper for …
Read More »CheckFree Spends Big for Corillian, But Gains Key Bill-Pay Assets
In a deal that continues a trend toward consolidation among tech companies in the payments industry, bill-payment services provider CheckFree Corp. on Wednesday announced that it plans to buy online-banking software maker Corillian Corp. for $245 million. The acquisition, which will produce a nice Valentine's Day windfall for Corillian shareholders, …
Read More »The Industry’s Self-Denial About the Maturing of Credit Cards
10 Tipping Points for the Payments Industry Part 6 The venerable credit card has been, by most measures, the most successful retail financial-services product in the past half-century. But even die-hard proponents can in good conscience no longer deny the growing evidence that the market for signature-based credit cards has …
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