News

February, 2007

• 7 February

  Consumers Want Spotlight on Interchange, Merchant Poll Says

  In what may mark the first time either side in the long-running dispute between merchants and card companies over interchange pricing has tried to measure public opinion on the matter, a merchant lobbying group this week released a survey indicating 94% of consumers agree that card networks should be required …
• 6 February

  BOC Could Open Merchant Market for Remote Deposit Capture

  A new point-of-sale payment option that converts checks to electronic debits, available starting next month, will open the retailer market for remote deposit capture, a leading payments executive says. The new option, called back-office conversion (BOC), allows merchants to scan consumer checks in bulk and process them through the automated …
• 5 February

  NACHA Announces Two New Fees to Recoup Administrative Costs

  NACHA announced Monday it has begun levying two new so-called network administration fees. One fee, a flat charge of one-one-hundredth of a penny, applies to all transactions passing through the automated clearing house system, except those considered on-us, or handled within a single financial institution. The Herndon, Va.-based governing body …
• 2 February

  ACH and Check Image Convergence?A Bridge Too Far

  10 Tipping Points for the Payments Industry Part 5 The demise of the bold plan by the big players in electronic check conversion and truncation to combine image capture of all checks at inception with ACH distribution to all financial-institution endpoints for payment provides the payments industry with some critical …

January, 2007

• 31 January

  Data Security Vendors Unite for Voice in PCI Implementation

  At a time when the security of personal financial information is in the news thanks to the recently disclosed computer breach at off-price retailer The TJX Cos. Inc., vendors that sell technology and services so merchants can meet the Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security standard have formed a group …
• 30 January

  Check-ACH Coalition Gives up on Ambitious Plan for Check Processing

  A sweepingly ambitious, nearly year-long effort to speed up end-to-end electronic processing of checks has been shut down by its organizers, the victim of multiple operational complications that proved in the end too hard to overcome. The Check-ACH Coalition, a group of some 65 financial institutions, trade groups, and vendors, …
• 30 January

  Microsoft: Any Micropayments System Is Highly Theoretical

  Microsoft Corp. is denying reports that have appeared since the weekend that the computing giant is working on an electronic payment system that could handle micropayments for online content and undercut the merchant pricing for such transactions when handled with bank cards. According to widespread press accounts, William H. Gates, …
• 29 January

  Security Issues Are Eroding Trust in Online Banking, Survey Shows

  Security fears created by such trends as the rise of phishing frauds are eroding consumer confidence in online banking, a recent survey reveals. Consumers also say banks should offer some form of strong authentication going beyond standard user name and password, though they are somewhat split on the specific technology …
• 29 January

  Under Fire, TJX Defends Its Handling of Card Data Breach

  Off-price retailer The TJX Cos. Inc. is defending its month-long delay in the disclosure of an intrusion into its network that handles customer payment card data, saying it may have prevented the data breach from becoming worse. TJX discovered the breach in mid-December, but didn't reveal it until Jan. 17. …
• 25 January

  Acquiring Operation Helps Boost Results at a Restructured First Data

  Leading payment processor First Data Corp., restructured and without its huge Western Union wire-transfer business, late on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter income from continuing operations of $240 million, up 12% from $214.4 million for the year-earlier period. Greenwood Village, Colo.-based First Data's merchant and international divisions posted strong gains, while the …