News

June, 2015

• 8 June

  As Debit Issuing Lags, Don’t Expect Debit and Credit EMV Parity Any Time Soon

  Consumers this fall will begin to dip a lot of EMV credit cards into EMV-compatible point-of-sale terminals, but not so many EMV debit cards. That’s the assessment from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. in its “Prediction for the U.S. Migration to EMV Debit Cards” report released last week. By Oct. 1, …
• 8 June

  Revolving Credit Took a Big Jump in April, New Federal Reserve Data Show

  Judging from new Federal Reserve data, April was a month of joy for merchants and credit card issuers as consumers spent more on their credit cards, but for consumer advocates and financial advisors it may have been a month of angst as they saw foolish consumers take on too much …
• 8 June

  Apple Pay: New Square Readers; Retailer Loyalty Programs Support; U.K. Expansion

  Merchant processor Square Inc. is about to introduce a card reader that supports Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay mobile-payment service, Apple announced Monday. Apple Pay also will support retailers’ loyalty programs, according to Jennifer Bailey, Apple Inc.’s vice president of Internet services. The announcements came at the start of Apple’s Worldwide …
• 8 June

  ACH Network Volume Climbs 5 percent in First Quarter As ‘Native Electronic’ Items Sizzle

  By John Stewart As participants in the 40-year-old automated clearing house network get ready to implement same-day clearing capability, network growth continues to percolate, according to the latest numbers from NACHA, the Herndon, Va.-based rules-setting organization for the ACH. Transactions totaled 4.72 billion in the first quarter, an increase of …
• 4 June

  Declaring ‘No More Transaction Fees,’ Long-Time Fee Critic Dwolla Erases 25-Cent Levy

  By John Stewart Dwolla Inc. announced Thursday morning it is eliminating its 25-cent transaction fee, effective immediately, on all transactions types. The fee, which has applied to transaction values exceeding $10, is typically paid by the receiver of the money. Des Moines, Iowa-based Dwolla processes person-to-person payments as well as …
• 4 June

  Eye on Tablets: Revel Systems Makes Connection, and Vend Receives Apple OK

  Two iPad-based point-of-sale system providers have made announcements that, in one instance, provide another connectivity option, and in the other, puts the spotlight on the company. Revel Systems has released a wired Internet option for its iPad-based point-of-sale product, enabling the WiFi-only device to have another connectivity option. The Revel …
• 4 June

  With New York’s BitLicense Final, Finance Boss Wants Payments Out of the ‘Disco Era’

  New York State’s controversial BitLicense—the nation’s first regulations for virtual currency—are now final, and they’ve got some people on the cutting edge of payments worried about government interference. But Benjamin Lawsky, the official who oversaw the BitLicense’s development, said Wednesday that he hopes intelligent regulation can help modernize what he …
• 4 June

  MasterPass and Visa Checkout Announcements Highlight Digital Progress for Visa, MasterCard

  By John Stewart Wednesday’s announcement by MasterCard Inc. that its MasterPass digital-payments service has signed up home-furnishings and décor e-retailer Wayfair, along with several Wayfair properties and mobile apps, threw into relief the progress the two giant general-purpose card networks are making in e-commerce and in-app payments. Once the province …
• 4 June

  VeriFone’s North American Revenues Jump 54%, but Top Brass Insists It’s Not All EMV

  Sales in VeriFone Systems Inc.’s North America region jumped 54% in the quarter ended April 30 to $193 million from $125.3 million a year earlier, the payment-processing equipment maker reported Thursday. The big driver was the conversion of U.S. merchants’ point-of-sale terminals ahead of an October deadline for the devices …
• 3 June

  Seeking to Deliver a Cross-Channel View, VeriFone Cuts CyberSource Deal With Visa

  Two dominant payments companies—Visa Inc. and VeriFone Systems Inc.—are teaming up to better secure the varying ways consumers shop across digital and face-to-face channels. Announced Wednesday, the deal lets San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone, which makes point-of-sale hardware and security products, gain access to Visa’s CyberSource platform that global merchants use …