Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Exadigm Inc. thinks merchants and acquirers should be able to take for granted wireless and Internet connections for point-of-sale terminals in the same way everyone does for personal computers and cell phones. So it is gearing up a major marketing effort for a new terminal that runs on the Linux …
Read More »U.S. Wireless Files for Bankruptcy, Announces Asset Sales
U.S. Wireless Data Inc., a 13-year-old payment gateway specializing in wireless and vending-machine transactions, has announced it has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The New York-based company also announced it is selling “substantially all” of its assets. It has reached an agreement with …
Read More »Could Qpass’s Wireless Model Work for Web-Based Micropayments?
While various startups attack the problem of enabling payments for small-value games, songs, and other content on the Web, a working model may already have established itself in the world of mobile commerce. Seattle-based Qpass Inc., a 7-year-old company that makes software that connects content sellers to mobile operators' billing …
Read More »InphoMatch Gets Set to Catch the Wireless Wave in Premium Content
The largest processor in the U.S. cross-carrier short-message service (SMS) market is getting set to enter the market for premium content services, also known as MMS (multimedia services), just as wireless carriers are beginning to introduce new billing capabilities to handle the high-margin product. Chantilly, Va.-based InphoMatch Inc. has formed …
Read More »First Atlantic Tries to Solve the 3D Secure Cost Issue
With chargeback rates running well in excess of 1% on Internet transactions, Visa International and MasterCard International have for some time been pushing a form of online cardholder authentication, called 3D Secure, that is intended to make cardholders, issuers, acquirers, and merchants feel confident that Web payments are legitimate. But …
Read More »A Survey Shows How Fears of ID Theft Undermine Web Transactions
A survey of consumers released today reveals that while most say they are more informed about identity theft, they feel no safer from it than they did a year ago, and more consumers are reluctant to give online retailers personal data than was the case last year. The survey of …
Read More »MyDoom Hardly Makes a Dent in Web Performance
MyDoom, characterized by many experts as one of the most virulent viruses ever to hit the Internet, has had only a slight impact on Web transaction speed and page availability, according to Keynote Systems Inc., a San Mateo, Calif., company that measures Web site performance. Keynote analysts credit the nature …
Read More »A New Online Processor Charts An Ambitious Course
Digency Inc., an El Dorado Hills, Calif.-based third-party processing startup specializing in Internet payments, has begun processing transactions for a handful of merchants and now looks to execute an ambitious business plan that calls for the company to earn $13 million in fee revenue in 2004 from some 240 online …
Read More »Record Online Spending Brings Record Strains
The record transaction volume recorded online this holiday shopping season also put record strains on Web sites' ability to handle the load. According to data from Keynote Systems Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based site-performance management company, both response time and success rate for Web transactions improved in the week ending …
Read More »Wal-Mart’s 88-Cent Siren Song
The market for ultra-low-ticket song downloads from online music stores continues to heat up. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has launched a service on its Web-based operation, Walmart.com USA LLC, that offers single songs for 88 cents, or 11 cents cheaper than what has become the 99-cent standard price for songs available …
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