Marketing

Financial institutions seem likely to give expedited bill payments a big boost in the coming two years, according to survey results released today by Boston-based Aite Group LLC. In a March survey of 22 of the nation's top 100 banks, credit unions, and thrifts ranked by number of checking accounts, …

In a move that could give the market for network-branded prepaid cards a big boost, Parago Inc. has launched a campaign to move its clients from checks to one-time-use cards for rebates and cash incentives. The Dallas-based company, which manages consumer rebate and rewards programs for corporations, hopes to have …

A new Capital One Financial Corp. MasterCard debit card that Cap One can market nationwide like a credit card has the potential to vault the financial-services company into the top ranks of debit card issuers and help MasterCard Worldwide swipe debit market share from Visa USA, the payments expert who …

DVD Empire is among the first of what will apparently be a series of Internet merchants this summer to adopt a new payments service offered by PayPal Mobile. The Warrendale, Pa.-based online seller of DVDs is going live with a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) site for mobile phones, with payments …

More than three years in the making, so-called account-level processing is moving closer to reality at Visa USA. The new process affecting Visa-branded consumer cards will allow a credit cardholder to keep the same account number even if his issuer upgrades his card. Visa claims ALP will allow smoother transitions …

PayPal, the online payment service of Internet auctioneer eBay Inc., has taken two more steps in its effort to diversify its transaction base beyond the eBay fold. This week it announced it would use IP Commerce Inc. technology to enable small businesses to easily send invoices and receive payment through …

The process that led to Metavante Corp.'s pending spin-off from Milwaukee-based bank-holding company Marshall & Ilsley Corp. started two years ago as the payment processor sought ways to continue making acquisitions, according to a registration statement M&I filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing?775 pages in …

MODASolutions Inc. which has been marketing an online-payment system called SECURE-eBill for more than two years, has renamed the service and introduced its first buyer-protection policy to cover instances of delayed or damaged goods, as well as non-delivery. The new policy comes as online retailers seek alternatives to bank-issued credit …

With an eye on increasing customer traffic but also on lowering payment-card acceptance costs, several retailers are readying PIN-based loyalty programs built on processor First Data Corp.'s new ConnectPay platform that lets customers pay without presenting a card or writing a check. ConnectPay's pilot retailer is Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & …

A Seattle-based startup that translates merchant sites to the mobile Web in a matter of minutes has doubled the number of sites it has signed up for its service in the last six weeks, according to the company's top executive. The company, mPoria Inc., now has about 30 sites signed …