News

July, 2015

• 7 July

  Credit Card Volume Gains in Resurgent Economy, as Debit Card Use Trails

  Credit card use, even in merchant categories dominated by debit cards, appears to be growing quicker than debit card use, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in a whitepaper released Monday. The report finds that, from 2007 through 2012, credit cards’ share of payments increased 5% at gas stations …
• 6 July

  No Easy Answers for Retailers as They Grapple With POS System Upgrades

  Retailers, especially larger ones, face a contradiction: they know they need to update their point-of-sale systems to take advantage of new technologies and consumer-shopping behavior, yet most resist that urge because of the expense. That’s one of the findings from “Commerce Convergence: Closing the Gap Between Online and In-Store,” a …
• 6 July

  COMMENTARY: Don’t Let the Scourge of ‘Friendly Fraud’ Hurt Your Bottom Line

  You may have heard the term, “friendly fraud.” It’s no surprise, then, that there’s nothing friendly about it. And it’s quickly becoming a major problem for merchants across the globe. Friendly fraud, also called friendly-fraud chargebacks or cyber-shoplifting, occurs when a customer makes a purchase online and then files a …
• 6 July

  Europeans Ahead of Americans With Contactless Payments, Visa Europe Data Indicate

  New data from Visa Europe indicate that while contactless payments are still a small portion of European card-based payments, they’re growing fast and likely far exceed the current level of U.S. contactless payments. London-based Visa Europe, a bank-owned licensee of Visa Inc., on Monday said there are 2.6 million contactless …
• 2 July

  The PCI Council Updates Standards for Point-to-Point Encryption and Card Readers

  The PCI Security Standards Council this week updated its standards governing point-to-point data encryption (P2PE) and card-reading devices for the point of sale, ATMs, kiosks and mobile devices. One of the key changes in the new Version 2.0 of the P2PE standard will make it easier for security-solutions providers to …
• 1 July

  Spurred by Heavier Marketing, Gift Card Loads Grew 9% in 2014, New Report Says

  With a little more marketing oomph behind it, the gift card market rebounded in 2014 after a down year in 2013, according to a report released Wednesday by Mercator Advisory Group. Virtual gift cards, a small but key segment of the market, held their own and may soon benefit from …
• 1 July

  PayPal To Acquire Online Wire-Transfer Provider Xoom for $890 Million in Cash

  PayPal Inc. plans to buy online wire-transfer provider Xoom Corp. in an all-cash deal valued at $890 million, the companies announced late Wednesday. The planned acquisition comes less than three weeks before PayPal’s expected spin-off from eBay Inc. and will bring under PayPal’s wing a highly regarded rival in the …

June, 2015

• 30 June

  COMMENTARY: Why I Have Only One Apple Pay Credential Loaded for Apple Watch

  There’s something off about the Apple Watch, especially when it comes to Apple Pay. It’s a bit of a hassle to set up. Let me explain. When I got the watch the other day, the feature I first wanted to activate was Apple Pay, the contactless payment service Apple Inc. …
• 30 June

  Facebook Enables Messenger P2P Payments Nationwide

  Social-media network Facebook Inc. says its Messenger person-to-person payments service is available nationwide beginning Tuesday. Messenger is Facebook’s direct-messaging service. In March, the network launched the P2P service to a few locations. David Marcus, Facebook vice president of messaging, made the announcement of general availability today on Twitter. Both senders …
• 29 June

  MasterCard, Google, Other Corporates Join Payments-Startup Investment Frenzy

  By John Stewart While payments startups are enjoying a record flood of investment capital, venture-capital and private-equity firms aren’t the only investors spotting opportunity in these companies. Directly or through their venture arms, established companies like MasterCard Inc. and Google Inc. are pouring cash into startups as well, either to …