News

April, 2004

• 14 April

  TPI Software Expands Its Market with Paymentech Certification

  TPI Software LLC, a privately held provider of e-commerce and point-of-sale systems based in Redmond, Wash., has won certification on Paymentech LP's NetConnect platform, a major network supporting online and telephone transactions, as well as transactions at the point of sale, using Internet connections. TPI, which claims to have developed …
• 14 April

  With HBNet, Hypercom Will Price ‘Aggressively’ for Network Volume

  Hypercom Corp., a supplier of point-of-sale transaction devices, has entered the electronic-transaction networking business with the formation of a new subsidiary, HBNet Inc. The new unit has been set up to compete with the dominant player in transaction networking, Reston, Va.-based Transaction Network Services Inc., which completed an initial public …
• 14 April

  TransFirst Starts a Division to Focus on ISO Alliances

  TransFirst, a Dallas-based processor, today announced it is forming a new division to focus on alliances with independent sales organizations. The new unit, called TransFirst Independent Sales Services, is headed by Nancy Newton, who holds the title of president of the division. Newton is a former Compass Bank and Paymentech …
• 12 April

  Frustration Reaches New Heights Among Grocers over Payments Costs

  Frustration with electronic-transaction pricing may be reaching a boiling point in the supermarket industry, says one expert who keeps an eye on payments issues at the National Grocers Association, an Arlington, Va.-based trade group that includes independent supermarkets and wholesalers among its 12,000-plus members. Interchange and other costs for credit …
• 9 April

  Star Sets Check Service Pricing, Gets Ready to Begin Processing

  Electronic funds transfer network Star Systems Inc., which last month announced a new product that makes use of its EFT network to verify and settle checks written at the point of sale in the same way Star processes debit cards, says it expects Star Chek Direct to begin processing transactions …
• 8 April

  Visa Places Its Bets on Mag-Stripe Cards for Electronic Loyalty

  Target Corp.'s decision several weeks ago to discontinue its chip-based electronic loyalty program has confirmed for Visa USA that U.S. consumers are not likely to embrace new transaction technologies any time soon, whether tied to loyalty programs or not. Indeed, for the foreseeable future, the bank card network is shifting …
• 8 April

  Why More Merchants Are Adopting PIN Debit

  Debit cards linked to personal identification numbers are slowly but surely penetrating more and more merchant locations, and as a result PIN debit transactions will begin to overtake transactions on signature-based debit cards within five years, says an analyst at Speer & Associates Inc., Atlanta, who has studied the issue. …
• 7 April

  An Alternative Emerges to Image Exchange?the ACH

  With at least four separate efforts under way to build national image-exchange networks, some banking officials are starting to ask whether the substantial investment banks and processors are making in these new networks to carry check images between financial institutions is really necessary. The systems required to achieve transfer of …
• 6 April

  Gift Card Market Will Double by 2007, TowerGroup Says

  Sales of prepaid gift cards soared 47% last year as the 8-year-old product picked up momentum that will lead to a doubling of usage by 2007, the research firm TowerGroup Inc. reports in research released today. The largest beneficiary of the trend will be banks, the firm says. While bank-issued …
• 2 April

  First to Swap Images, Endpoint Exchange Reports Fast Growth

  While the race is on to hammer together electronic networks to carry what is expected by many to be a huge volume of check images between banks, the only network that has gone live so far reports it is achieving fast growth. Endpoint Exchange, a network owned and operated by …