Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By John Shlonsky, Senior Executive Vice President & President, Merchant Services, TSYS In today’s dynamic payments environment, there are two vital components needed for ongoing growth. First, bring relevant products and services to the market. Then, provide operational excellence and support to the customers who use them. A …
May, 2016
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11 May
Latest Data Confirms More Fraudsters Are Targeting Bank And Card Issuer Call Centers
Call-center fraud is becoming a bigger problem for card issuers and financial institutions, increasing 45% globally since 2013, according to a new study from Atlanta-based Pindrop Labs. In 2013, an average of one in every 2,900 calls to a call center was fraudulent. This year, the rate is one fraudulent call …
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11 May
Dwolla’s Faster-Payments Plan and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• Money-transfer specialist Dwolla Inc. submitted a 164-page proposal for speedier electronic payments, dubbed FiSync, to the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payments Task Force. • Fuel-pump manufacturer Gilbarco Veeder-Root introduced its FlexPay IV, a payment terminal developed with VeriFone Systems Inc. that Gilbarco says is the industry’s first terminal for a …
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10 May
Wal-Mart Sues Visa Over Network’s ‘Demand’ for Signatures on EMV Debit Sales
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sued Visa Inc. on Tuesday claiming that Visa is trying to make the retailer use signature verification for some EMV debit card transactions and route those transactions over Visa’s network rather than Wal-Mart’s preferred PIN-debit networks. The suit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, …
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10 May
They May Account for a Sliver of Acquiring, But ISVs And VARs Are Poised for Fast Growth
For all the talk about independent software vendors and value-added resellers as an alternative channel for acquirers to sign up new merchants, the ISV/VAR share of the market is actually quite small, according to research released last week by Annapolis, Md.-based First Annapolis Consulting. The research does indicate, however, that …
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10 May
PayPal, Grocery Stores Pull in the Reins on Gift Cards
Gift cards are the target of a crackdown in the first half of 2016. Next month, PayPal Holdings Inc. will no longer allow items equivalent to cash, including gift cards, to be covered by PayPal’s Seller Protection program for merchants. And prepaid card provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. recently reported …
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10 May
Groupon Sells Breadcrumb and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• Groupon Inc. sold its Breadcrumb restaurant point-of-sale unit to Upserve Inc., a startup focusing on restaurant-management solutions. Terms were not disclosed, but Groupon will take an equity interest in Upserve, formerly known as Swipely Inc. Founded in 2011, Breadcrumb was acquired by Groupon in 2012. • Apple Inc.’s Apple …
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9 May
Consolidation Heats up in Carrier Billing With Bango’s $3.5 Million Deal for BilltoMobile
The direct carrier billing business has been consolidating for the last few years, and on Monday the latest deal confirmed that surviving players are still willing to pay for volume. London-based carrier biller Bango said it had acquired a major rival, Danal Inc.’s BilltoMobile service, from San Jose, Calif.-based Danal, …
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9 May
PayPal Trims Buyer Protection and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• PayPal Holdings Inc. no longer will provide purchase protection for transactions made on crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, potentially dealing a blow to the nascent crowdfunding industry, CNBC reported. • In a letter to Green Dot Corp. shareholders, Harvest Capital Strategies, which owns 9.3% of Green Dot, said it …
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6 May
Jumbo Acquirer Pricing Advantage Dissipating: Report
Pricing advantages once held by super-large acquirers—those whose merchants process more than 3 million monthly credit and debit transactions—appear to have retreated, according to the Merchant Processing Pricing Benchmark Study recently issued by The Strawhecker Group. These jumbo acquirers had, on average, the lowest amounts for their processing and authorization …