Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Local demographics and the availability of a mass-transit system that uses contactless technology for fare payment chiefly accounted for the decision by Isis, the joint venture formed late last year and led by major wireless carriers, to launch its first pilot next year in Salt Lake City, Utah, Isis’s head …
Read More »3 Million Transactions And Counting: Starbucks Scores Early Mobile Success
Mobile payments may be a nascent business fraught with uncertainty, but Starbucks Coffee Co. seems to have found a key to success. Last week, the company revealed that more than 3 million transactions have taken place on its smart-phone-based prepaid payments system, which became available in all U.S. company-owned stores …
Read More »Consumers Nearly Carefree When It Comes to Smart-Phone Security
With much of the payments industry and Silicon Valley tech press in a speculative frenzy about what Google Inc., Apple Inc., and Facebook Inc. might or might not do regarding mobile payments, a new study has come along indicating that consumers are complacent, arguably extremely complacent, about protecting personal and …
Read More »Relax, Banks. Google Just Wants NFC for Its Advertising Potential, Experts Say
A mobile-payments system from Google Inc. may strengthen the search giant’s hand in marketing but will pose little threat to established payments networks, according to experts contacted by Digital Transactions News. The Google venture, more news of which emerged this week, has surprised some observers because it includes MasterCard Inc. …
Read More »Look, Ma, No NFC: Parking Payment Via a Smart Phone App
It was only a matter of time before mobile payments came to the parking industry. And no, the latest application doesn’t depend on near-field communication (NFC), a contactless technology that has been ensnarled in endless disputes between banks and mobile operators and is reportedly being eyed by high-flying players like …
Read More »Handsets, Shopping Apps Will Likely Fuel PayPal’s Physical POS Move
PayPal Inc.’s move into the physical point of sale is likely to involve handset-based services that make shopping and buying easier for consumers rather than a direct assault on the checkout counter, according to one expert who follows electronic payments. PayPal will most likely integrate its payments platform with applications …
Read More »Visa Brings P2P Payments to U.S. Cards Via Fiserv And CashEdge
Visa Inc. on Wednesday said it is adding person-to-person payment capabilities to its network and cards so that all Visa-branded credit, debit, and prepaid cards from U.S. issuers would be able to receive P2P payments. The first P2P providers to walk through Visa's new door were bank processor Fiserv Inc. …
Read More »Confusion Forces VeriFone to Pull Skimming Demo As Square Defends Itself
VeriFone Systems Inc. fired a blast at rival mobile-payments provider Square Inc. on Wednesday and sustained some powder burns in the process, but the leading U.S. point-of-sale terminal maker nonetheless may have brought some legitimate concerns about Square’s security into the open, according to at least one analyst. By Thursday, …
Read More »Apple’s New iPad Could Be Even More Suitable for Payments Than the Old One
The debut on Wednesday of Apple Inc.’s iPad 2 ushers in a thinner, lighter version of a tablet computer that debuted a year ago to considerable fanfare both generally and in the payments business. Like its sister product, the iPhone, the iPad won adoption by some merchants looking for ways …
Read More »Fiserv Deals Propel It Deeper into Mobile Products And Prepaid
Banking processor Fiserv Inc. announced a trio of acquisitions in a 24-hour period that included picking up Atlanta-based mobile-banking technology provider Mobile Commerce Ltd., known as M-Com. Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv also announced it is acquiring Maverick Network Solutions Inc., a Wilmington, Del.-based prepaid card processor, and Credit Union On-Line Inc., …
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