News

April, 2016

• 1 April

  Lots of Headaches From Data Breaches, but Few Lawsuits, a Law Firm’s Study Finds

  A new report about data breaches from a law firm that analyzed compromises affecting more than 300 of its clients in 2015 has some unique perspectives that supplement findings from data-security technology firms such as Mandiant and Trustwave or telecommunications giant Verizon, all of which have produced widely read summaries …
• 1 April

  MasterCard Says EMV on Two-Thirds of Its Credit Cards And Accepted at 1.2 Million Locations

  Six months after the U.S. payment card industry adopted EMV chip card transactions as the preferred card technology, MasterCard Inc. says 67% of U.S.-issued consumer credit cards bearing its mark have chips, and 1.2 million U.S. merchant locations now accept the card. The data comes six months after the Oct. …
• 1 April

  Blackhawk Buys extrameasures and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Prepaid card services provider Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. acquired extrameasures LLC, a promotions and incentives firm that offers Visa-branded and private-label rewards and gift cards. The deal follows Blackhawk’s acquisitions of other incentives companies, including Parago, InteliSpend, CardLab, and Incentive Solutions.   • Prepaid card provider Green Dot Corp. …
• 1 April

  Despite Its Recent Troubles, Ignoring Square Is a Risky Move for Rivals, Experts Argue

  Do competing acquirers run a significant risk if they ignore the way Square Inc. operates? Some experts are now saying they do, though you wouldn’t think so in the light of recent events. When 6-year-old Square went public in November, the result was bloody. On the first day of trading, …

March, 2016

• 31 March

  Most POS Hardware And Software Providers Compete for Just a Sliver of Retailers

  Contrary to what many may suspect, price is not the top reason retailers switch from one point-of-sale provider to another, according to a study from Capterra Inc., a business-software review site. In a survey of more than 400 merchants, 34% cited a POS system’s lack of necessary features as the …
• 31 March

  First Data CEO Pay Tops $51 Million and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • Braintree launched Braintree Auth as an invitation-only service in beta. The service streamlines integration of Braintree merchants with e-commerce platforms and eases the way for new payment methods enabled by Braintree, a unit of PayPal Holdings Inc. Braintree Auth currently processes payments on e-commerce platforms Bigcommerce, WooCommerce, and 3DCart. …
• 31 March

  COMMENTARY: The Best Defense Against Chargebacks? Good Data

  The U.S. payments industry is keeping a watchful eye on friendly-fraud chargebacks now that the EMV liability shift is in effect. According to software enterprise CA Technologies, global card-not-present fraud by 2018 will be at least double the $2.9 billion logged in 2014. Fraudulent chargebacks, always a risk for sellers, …
• 30 March

  After Years of Retreat, Payments Fraud Has Come Roaring Back, AFP Survey Shows

  For years, the wave of fraud receded like an outgoing tide for companies that accepted electronic payments from consumers and other businesses. But last year, a tidal wave crashed on shore. Fully 73% of companies reported they had suffered actual or attempted payments fraud in 2015, up 11 percentage points …
• 30 March

  Many ATM Operators To Speed up EMV Acceptance in 2016: Survey

  While many ATM operators know what hardware and software their fleets need to enable EMV chip card acceptance, most are waiting to fully upgrade until concerns about routing issues, chargeback rates, and continuing uncertainty subside, according to the 2016 ATM Channel EMV Readiness survey from the ATM Industry Association. Like …
• 30 March

  Square Debuts POS APIs and other Digital Transactions News briefs

  • The Federal Reserve picked consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to support its Faster Payments Task Force efforts this year by assessing solution proposals from various payments providers. • Merchant processor Square Inc. announced its “Build With Square,” a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that integrates point-of-sale and-online payments capabilities with …