News

November, 2004

• 19 November

  AmEx’s Big Lawsuit: A Power Play Through the Banks?

  American Express Co. Inc.'s decision to include eight banks as defendants in the lawsuit it filed earlier this week against Visa USA Inc. and MasterCard International Inc. may be a power play to weaken the bank card networks by widening policy differences between the networks and their major members, some …
• 19 November

  United Bank Card Bids for Fast Growth Through a Terminal Giveaway

  In a bid to accelerate growth in its merchant base and in its transaction volumes, United Bank Card Inc. says it will give card terminals, check readers, and signature-capture devices free to merchants signed on by independent sales organizations contracted with the Hampton, New Jersey-based processor. The company, which says …
• 18 November

  Equifax Touts a ‘Secret Question’ Test for Online Authentication

  With concern mounting about the adequacy of commonly used authentication technologies in online transactions, a technique devised by a major credit-reporting agency to secure the sale of consumer credit reports online is finding adoption among financial institutions and could appeal to Internet merchants. Equifax Information Services LLC is actively licensing …
• 16 November

  Discover’s Aims in Signature Debit Lie Behind Its Pulse Deal

  Discover Financial Service's Inc.'s proposed acquisition of the Pulse EFT network, announced yesterday (Digital Transactions News, Nov. 15), hands the Riverwoods, Ill.-based card company instant credibility in the business of PIN debit, but it also may propel Discover's efforts to break into the high-growth signature-debit card arena. Discover, apparently encouraged …
• 15 November

  Discover Buys Pulse for $311 Million, Gains Major PIN Debit Position

  In an announcement with far-reaching implications for the electronic payments business, Discover Financial Services Inc. announced today it is buying the Houston-based Pulse EFT Association for $311 million “and other strategic value.” The deal, which the parties say will close by mid January pending approval from regulators and Pulse members, …
• 15 November

  Valista Breaks into U.S. Web Payments with AOL Premium Content Deal

  America Online Inc. will begin offering packages of premium content on its Internet service through new software from Valista Ltd., an Ireland-based payment software company, the companies announced today. The new solution allows AOL to target and price particular packages, or bundles, to particular audiences, with special promotional pricing and …
• 11 November

  VeriFone Teams with McAfee to Offer POS Anti-Virus Software

  Responding to a year that has seen a steady barrage of viruses, worms, trojans, and other malicious computer attacks, VeriFone Inc. and McAfee Inc. announced today they will offer the first anti-virus software product to protect point-of-sale terminals linked to the Internet. The software will be available starting early next …
• 10 November

  Celent: Image Exchange Will Nearly Pull the Plug on Check Conversion

  Image exchange will account for 93% of all transit checks by 2010, marginalizing what are now some highly popular forms of electronic check conversion, including the fastest-growing form of e-check, account receivable conversion (ARC), according to new projections from Celent Communications. The New York-based research firm says today's nascent image-exchange …
• 10 November

  Fraud Losses Have Climbed 37% for Online Merchants, Survey Says

  Fraud losses will total $2.6 billion in 2004 for Internet merchants, 37% higher than last year, with smaller merchants suffering the worst fraud. That's according to the sixth annual survey of online fraud from CyberSource Corp., a Mountain View, Calif.-based transaction gateway for e-commerce sites. The survey, which gathered responses …
• 9 November

  Criminals Escalate the Phishing War with an Alarming New Weapon

  Up to now, phishing schemes only worked if the fraudsters could entice recipients of their e-mail to visit transaction sites tricked up to look like the real thing, such as a fake eBay site or spoofed online banking site. The sites would collect login and other confidential information the criminals …