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April, 2018

• 4 April

  Chicago Commuter-Rail Agency Will End Online Ticket Sales in Part To Avoid PCI Costs

  

  Metra, the commuter-rail agency in the Chicago area, will cease selling tickets on its Web site in late June, partly to avoid payment card security expenses. Riders, however, will still have a mobile-ticketing option through the Chicago Transit Authority’s Ventra fare system. Metra, which operates 11 transit lines and carries …

March, 2018

• 28 March

  Canadians Embrace Contactless Payments, but Are Cautious About Other New Payment Forms

  

  Canadians are now quite comfortable with contactless payments, but they view other new payment forms cautiously, according to new findings from Visa Inc.’s Canadian unit. Some 52% of 1,000 adults polled in February for Toronto-based Visa Canada said they are regular users of contactless cards. Also, 80% of respondents said …
• 19 March

  With Same-Day ACH Fully Phased in, NACHA Plans Higher Limits and Other Enhancements

  

  With the third and final phase of same-day automated clearing house payment processing now in effect, ACH governing body NACHA is turning its attention to improving the program through higher transaction limits, adding a later processing window, and other changes. Same-day ACH transactions currently are capped at $25,000. Herndon, Va.-based …
• 14 March

  PCI Council Cuts Its QIR Program Fee And Shortens Training Time

  

  The PCI Security Standards Council is making changes to its qualified integrators and resellers certification program by reducing the fee to $100, making the certification an individual one, and shortening the training-course time, the council announced Wednesday. Launched in 2012, the QIR program’s focus has been on improving payments security for …
• 13 March

  Surcharging Is the Wave of the Future, ISO Executives Say

  

  Not many merchants are doing it yet, but surcharging credit card transactions will soon gain more acceptance as businesses do whatever they can to reduce their card-acceptance costs. That’s the expectation of merchant-processing executives who participated in a panel Tuesday at the Southeast Acquirers Association annual conference in Orlando, Fla. …
• 13 March

  A Cooling EMV Market And Slipping Chip Card Prices Show up in a Card Maker’s Results

  

  If the payments industry needed further evidence that the EMV frenzy unleashed in the United States in 2015 is cooling off, it can find it in the fourth-quarter 2017 and full-year results posted Monday by CPI Card Group, one of the country’s chief manufacturers of chip cards. U.S. sales of …
• 2 March

  As Faster Payments Draw Near, the Fed Disbands Its Secure Payments Task Force

  

  The Federal Reserve announced Thursday it is shutting down its Secure Payments Task Force this month. The Fed invited its more than 200 members, made up of payments executives from across the financial-services industry, to work with its FedPayments Improvement Community. Members may also participate in “new collaborative industry work …

February, 2018

• 27 February

  Survey Results Show a Surprising Slowdown in Merchant Compliance With Key Security Rules

  

  At a time when the payment card industry continues to struggle with the consequences of data breaches, the last thing acquirers and issuers need is a slowdown in merchant compliance with critical data-security rules. Yet that is what’s going on, warn the Merchant Acquirers Committee and ControlScan Inc. in survey …
• 26 February

  Mass Card Replacements Wreak Havoc. A Startup Says It Has an Answer

  

  For years, the change in card credentials that occurs when issuers send out replacement plastic has caused heartburn for cardholders and merchants alike. New card numbers, expiration dates, or three-digit card-verification values can help thwart fraud when cards are lost or stolen, but they also wreak havoc with unaware merchants, …
• 23 February

  Apple Pay’s Great Mystery: Why Apple Doesn’t Promote Its Advantages More

  

  As Apple Pay’s global user base climbs to an estimated 127 million individuals, a mystery about why even more consumers don’t use Apple Inc.’s mobile-payment service confounds one researcher. Loup Ventures, a Minneapolis-based venture-capital firm, on Thursday released its annual Apple Pay review. Among its findings is that the estimated …