News

May, 2006

• 1 May

  Eye on RFID: Utah Transit, Arby’s Plan for Contactless Payment

  The Utah Transit Authority in November will begin accepting contactless payment tokens in a pilot project that will represent the first use of contactless technology to process bus fares in the U.S. The Salt Lake City-based transit agency in September will begin equipping 41 buses that ferry passengers to local …

April, 2006

• 27 April

  MX Telecom Looks for Rapid Growth in SMS-Based Mobile Payments

  The recent launch of mobile-payment services based on short-message service (SMS) transmissions is casting a spotlight on specialist gateways that provide links from payment processors to wireless carriers. One, MX Telecom Inc., counts among its clients both PayPal Mobile, which PayPal Inc. launched earlier this month (Digital Transactions News, April …
• 26 April

  Phishing Hits Record Levels As Malware, Redirectors Proliferate

  Phishing hit an all-time high in March, with the number of reports of the online fraud reaching 18,480, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, which follows the trend. That's 603 more than the previous peak in January and more than 1,300 more than in February, the group reports. By way …
• 26 April

  A BankAmericard Redux Poses Risks But Could Reap Rewards for BofA

  The possibility that Bank of America Corp. could start its own payment card network and brand poses some big risks and would bring big expenses for the Charlotte, N.C.-based banking giant, though it could enable BofA to differentiate itself in a mature card industry, analysts say. Reports that BofA chairman, …
• 25 April

  PCI’s POS Costs Slow Retailer Adoption, Terminal Exec Says

  Reluctance by merchants and independent sales organizations to assume the added costs of compliant terminals is contributing to the apparently slow rate at which retailers are adopting the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, an executive with a major terminal maker says. According to recent data from Visa USA, one of …
• 24 April

  AmEx Discount Revenues Grow, but Rate Continues To Slip

  Boosted by higher charge volume on its cards, American Express Co. on Monday reported in its first-quarter financials that discount revenue grew 13% to $2.97 billion, up 13% from $2.64 billion in 2005's first quarter. The travel-and-entertainment giant however, warned of “some erosion” in the average discount rate in the …
• 24 April

  First National Merchant Solutions Shifts Toward ISOs for Growth

  Long quiet on the reseller front, First National Merchant Solutions is signing up independent sales organizations as part of a strategic shift mapped out by its new president, Diana M. Mehochko. The merchant-acquiring unit of First National Bank of Omaha signed up half a dozen ISOs last year and is …
• 20 April

  PayPal Racks up Double-Digit Growth, But Still Relies Heavily on eBay

  PayPal Inc, which earlier this month announced its foray into mobile payments based on short-message service transmissions (Digital Transactions News, April 6), continues to build transaction volume at double-digit rates in its core e-commerce business, though it remains dependent on parent eBay Inc. for the bulk of its traffic. In …
• 20 April

  First Data’s Profit Dips, Though Merchant-Unit Results Climb 24%

  Leading payment card processor First Data Corp., in the midst of a reorganization and spin-off of its Western Union money-transfer business, late Thursday reported first-quarter earnings of $373.3 million, down slightly from $374.5 million in 2005's first quarter. Revenues grew 10% to $2.70 billion from the year-earlier period's $2.47 billion. …
• 19 April

  ATM Surcharges, Number of Banks Assessing Them, Rise Again

  More banks than ever now levy surcharges on ATM transactions performed by non-customers, and the fee is now higher than ever, according to new data released this week by Bankrate.com, a service of Bankrate Inc. The average ATM surcharge is now $1.60, up from $1.54 in the fall of 2005, …