Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Jim Daly and Kevin Woodward American Express Co. saw total revenues and profits decline by 4% in the second quarter, but its OptBlue program has added 700,000 small merchants this year. Meanwhile, Discover Financial Services reported late Wednesday that its Pulse volume fell after losing a large issuer. New …
July, 2015
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23 July
COMMENTARY: Tokenization, Misinformation, and the Benefits of Host Card Emulation
Tokenization is not a new concept. Yet, while the process has improved card security across a variety of industries, there still exists myriad misinformation about why it’s important and how to best implement it. I’m going to argue that an approach called host card emulation (HCE) is the safest and …
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23 July
Visa Posts 25% Profit Increase as U.S. Credit and Debit Volumes Climb
A tepid world economy didn’t stop Visa Inc. from posting an 8% increase in global transaction volume and a 25% jump in net income for the quarter ended June 30. The leading payment card network on Thursday reported operating revenues of $3.52 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2015, …
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22 July
InComm and Gemalto Prepare for Mobile Prepaid NFC Payments
Prepaid provider InComm Holdings Inc. and smart card maker Gemalto NV have devised a new service that enables mobile-wallet providers and merchants to offer and accept prepaid cards loaded onto near-field communication (NFC)-equipped smart phones. The InComm Mobile Platform uses Gemalto’s technology—namely its Trusted Service Hub for the interconnectivity, data …
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21 July
Only a Minority of Consumers Would Buy Wearable Technology: Survey
Only 42% of consumers would consider or have already bought wearable technology. That’s one result from a Bank of America Corp. survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults. Wearables garner much attention because of their mobile-payments capabilities. These devices—mostly watches—enable consumers to make mobile payments without using a smart …
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21 July
Backpage.com Sues Cook County Sheriff in Payment Card Acceptance Dispute
The owner of online classified-advertising portal Backpage.com is suing the sheriff of Cook County, Ill., in federal court for pressuring payment card networks to ban card purchases in Backpage’s adult section. The lawsuit filed Tuesday by Backpage.Com LLC in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleges Sheriff Thomas J. Dart engaged …
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21 July
Apple Pay To Hit 1.5 Million U.S. Acceptance Locations by Year’s End, Apple’s CEO Says
Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payments service will soon more than double the 700,000 acceptance locations it had this spring, according to figures the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer and smart-phone maker released Tuesday. “We’re on track for Apple Pay acceptance at over 1.5 million U.S. locations by the end of 2015,” Apple chief …
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20 July
Biometrics Poised To Become Predominant Mobile-Commerce Authentication Method: Report
Biometrics will be the secure authentication mechanism for 65% of all mobile-commerce transactions in five years. That’s the forecast from Acuity Marketing Intelligence, a Denver-based research firm, in its “The Global Biometrics and Mobility Report: The Convergence of Commerce and Privacy” report released last week. The forecast says this will …
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20 July
Investors Give a Thumbs Up to the Newly Independent PayPal
After a 13-year absence, online-payments provider PayPal Holdings Inc. debuted Monday morning on the Nasdaq Stock Market as an independent company following its spin-off Friday from parent eBay Inc. Investors looking for growth opportunities in payments liked what they saw, pushing PayPal’s price up approximately 6% and valuing the company …
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20 July
First Data Files for Its Long-Awaited IPO, Seeks To Pay Down Debt
First Data Corp. filed a registration statement Monday for an initial public stock offering, a long-anticipated move that the highly leveraged payment processor expects will help reduce its debt. The statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission does not say how many shares First Data plans to issue or …