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A recent survey indicates debit card issuers may be overreacting to database breaches that compromise card data held by merchants. Nine out of 10 debit card issuers have received notice in the last few years that their cards could have been compromised in a breach, and of these, some 87% …
Read More »Cost Cutting Helps TSYS Boost Profits After a Tough Year
It was a bumpy ride, but Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) emerged from 2006 with some hefty profit growth. The second-largest card processor this week reported fourth-quarter revenues of $503.9 million, up 19.8% from $420.7 million a year earlier, and net income of $87.1 million, up 75.2% from $49.7 million. …
Read More »TSYS Battered But Not Broken, Top Execs Say, Citing New Business
Top executives of card processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) on Wednesday portrayed a company that may be a bit bruised but is heading for better times. Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS even upped its 2006 profit projections and says earnings next year won't decline as much as previously forecast. TSYS late …
Read More »MasterCard Unveils Network-Level, Real-Time PIN-Fraud Scoring
With PIN debit fraud losses rising along with consumer usage of PIN debit cards, MasterCard Worldwide announced on Wednesday a system it says will score PIN transactions in real time to assess their risk of fraud. Purchase, N.Y.-based MasterCard says when the service goes live in the first quarter of …
Read More »Issuers Win And Lose As the Fed Puts Reg E’s Stamp on Payroll Cards
In the Federal Reserve Board's final rule that extends Regulation E provisions to the fast-growing payroll card sector, electronic transaction reporting won out over paper statements, but issuers may take on added risk with a longer time period for dispute resolution, experts say. After a two-year process that involved taking …
Read More »Cutting Payment Costs, Wesco Helps Debitman with Issuer Gap
A Michigan convenience-store chain believes its new Debitman card program will lower its card-acceptance costs while simultaneously boosting customer loyalty by taking some of the sting out of rising gasoline prices. Debitman Card Inc. announced this week that Muskegon-based Wesco Inc., which operates 51 stores in the state, would join …
Read More »Eyeing Gift-Card Popularity, the OCC Issues Disclosure Rules
Responding to the rapid build-up in popularity of gift cards, a federal banking regulator has issued guidelines telling banks what information they should disclose?and how they should disclose it?to both the buyers and ultimate users of the prepaid plastic. The new rules, which bear on matters such as expiration dates, …
Read More »Discover’s Embrace of ViVOtech Hints at Bigger Contactless Plans
Discover Network's recent certification of ViVOtech card readers indicates Discover is moving ahead with a contactless card program, but the No. 4 general-purpose card network is staying mum about the details. Discover says it has certified several readers from Santa Clara, Calif.-based ViVOtech Inc., a specialist in contactless payment hardware, …
Read More »SVPCO Gains More Critical Mass As PNC Joins Image-Exchange System
All-electronic check image exchange got a boost this week with the addition of another large regional bank-holding company, Pittsburgh-based The PNC Financial Services Group, to SVPCO-Electronic Clearing Services' image-exchange network. Meanwhile, SVPCO reported today that it processed 3 million average daily items in July, up 17% from June's average. The …
Read More »Monthly IRDs Surpass 100 Million, But Electronic Settlement Gains Share
New consolidated industry data show the number of substitute checks, or image replacement documents (IRDs), flowing through image-exchange networks surpassed 100 million for the first time in June, but the share of paper relative to all image-exchange volume is declining. According to the Electronic Check Clearing House Organization (ECCHO), the …
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