News

January, 2016

• 31 January

  Recognizing Greatness in the Payments Industry

    NACHA’s annual Payments System Awards recognize the highest degree of achievement in the development, implementation and advancement of electronic payments. These prestigious awards celebrate outstanding accomplishments and superior leadership in innovation, excellence and promotion of the positive environmental impact of electronic payments, statements and billing. Recognizing greatness in the …
• 29 January

  MasterCard Posts Growth for Fourth Quarter And 2015 U.S. Purchase Volume And Cards

  MasterCard Inc. on Friday said purchase volume made with its U.S.-issued credit and debit cards grew by 8.7% in the fourth quarter and 7.7% for all of 2015, compared with the same periods a year ago. MasterCard also said the number of U.S.-issued credit and debit cards increased. In the …
• 28 January

  The EMV-Accepting U.S. Merchant Base Hits 750,000, Visa Reports

  More than 750,000 locations representing 17% of the U.S. face-to-face card-accepting merchant base are now enabled to accept EMV chip cards, Visa Inc. chief executive Charles W. Scharf reported Thursday. The EMV acceptance base is up 42% from the 529,000 locations active as of October, when the card networks’ U.S. …
• 27 January

  Most Shoppers Indifferent to Merchant Data Breaches, Survey Finds

  Consumers seem to be very forgiving of retailers who experience data breaches, according to findings from a recent survey for the Merchant Acquirers’ Committee, a trade group of payment processors. Most customers resume shopping—and using a payment card—at a breached retailer within a few months, and among those that don’t …
• 27 January

  A Venmo In-App Service And a First Data Deal Help Expand PayPal’s Merchant Reach

  On Wednesday, PayPal Holdings Inc. made it clear it hasn’t given up on expanding its reach with merchants beyond processing e-commerce payments. The company announced a new in-app payments initiative for its popular Venmo peer-to-peer payments app, a move that follows a recent agreement with First Data Corp. that furthers …
• 26 January

  More Mobile Payments This Year Will Likely Mean More Fraud Potential, FICO Warns

  To the extent there is greater mobile-payments use among merchants and consumers this year, that increase will likely bring with it a greater potential for fraud. That’s the cautionary note from Fair Isaac Corp. executive T.J. Horan, vice president of fraud solutions at the analytics-software company. In-store mobile payments will …
• 26 January

  Green Dot Responds in Measured Tones After Fiery Investor Calls for CEO’s Firing

  Prepaid card services provider Green Dot Corp. has struggled to make profits sufficiently large to keep restive shareholders at bay since it became a publicly traded company in 2010. Now one of those shareholders, Harvest Capital Strategies LLC, is calling for the ouster of company founder and chief executive Steve …
• 26 January

  In a Bid to Build on Strengths, TSYS Clinches a $2.35 Billion Deal To Buy TransFirst

  Processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) is buying acquirer TransFirst Holdings Inc. for $2.35 billion, Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS announced Tuesday. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, puts an end to TransFirst’s plans to explore an initial public offering. Hauppauge, N.Y.-based TransFirst last October filed an …
• 25 January

  With an Improved Price Performance, Bitcoin Faces a Debate Over How to Grow

  The Dow Jones Industrial Average has skidded about 8% since the end of 2015, putting a scare in investors and prompting talk of everything from a market correction to another recession. Unnoticed, however, is that the price of the digital currency Bitcoin has followed an almost identical path, dropping approximately …
• 25 January

  Euronet’s HiFX Marks U.S., Canada International Funds Transfer Debut

  Corporations and wealthy consumers have a new option when they need to move funds internationally. HiFX, a unit of Euronet Worldwide Inc., has begun offering its services to U.S. and Canadian clients. Acquired by Leawood, Kan.-based Euronet in 2014, U.K.-based HiFX enables users to transfer funds internationally in 28 currencies, …