News

June, 2015

• 1 June

  COMMENTARY: Hey, Small Business, Why Are You Still Using Paper Checks?

  In the last 10 years, the electronic movement of money has become easier than ever. More people are banking online, paying bills electronically, and making payments with their mobile devices. In fact, one-quarter of all smart-phone users have made a mobile payment in the last 12 months, and half of …
• 1 June

  Eye on Security: Heartland Theft, PA-DSS Updated, Sally Beauty Confirms Second Breach

  Four computers containing Social Security and bank-account numbers for an estimated 2,200 individuals have been stolen from a California office of merchant processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc.’s payroll-processing division, Heartland reported Monday. Also on Monday the PCI Security Standards Council updated its rules governing payment card software. And in other …

May, 2015

• 29 May

  Android Pay Vs. Apple Pay: Google Has Advantages, But Business Deals Will Win Battle

  With Google Inc.’s announcement of Android Pay Thursday, the first major direct rival to Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay came into focus. While other Apple Pay competitors are already in the market or soon will be—handset giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and the retailer-controlled Merchant Customer Exchange LLC are expected to …
• 28 May

  Federal Court Orders Defendants in Newtek Case To Pay $1.7 Million Fine to FTC

  Already found liable for its role in a telemarketing scheme that defrauded consumers, Universal Processing Services of Wisconsin LLC, doing business as Newtek Merchant Solutions, now will have to pay its share of a $1.7 million fine, a U.S. District Court judge ruled last week. The Federal Trade Commission in …
• 28 May

  Google’s Android Pay Debuts as an Apple Pay Fighter While Wallet Takes a Back Seat

  Google Inc. is betting its latest mobile payments incarnation—Android Pay—will work better than Google Wallet did. Announced Thursday at Google I/O, its developer conference, Android Pay is poised to compete directly against Apple Inc.’s Apple Pay, PayPal Inc., and the upcoming Samsung Pay for a piece of the burgeoning mobile-payments …
• 28 May

  Discover To Beef Up Its Anti-Money Laundering Procedures Under Fed Pact

  Discover Financial Services disclosed Thursday that it will enhance its company-wide anti-money laundering procedures under an agreement it signed with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The agreement does not call for fines. The pact follows by 11 months a consent order that Discover’s Delaware-based bank subsidiary, Discover Bank, struck …
• 27 May

  TSYS And Pax Look To Simplify EMV Compliance Within Merchants’ POS Systems

  Migrating point-of-sale systems to the EMV chip card standard is as much a herculean task as swapping out countertop POS terminals. Now processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) and POS-terminal maker Pax Technology Inc. say they have a product that can make the task easier for POS systems. The product, …
• 27 May

  Superstar Names Add Luster for Xapo And Bitcoin—But Will It Matter in the Long Run?

  By John Stewart Few tactics lend instant credibility like adding heavy-hitter names to a company’s board. On Wednesday, the 5-year-old Bitcoin digital currency, and at least one startup offering Bitcoin wallets, gained a few notches on the credibility index when Xapo GmbH said Dee Hock, John Reed, and Lawrence Summers …
• 27 May

  Mobile Devices for Remote Capture Leave Scanners in the Rear-View Mirror

  The use of smart phones and tablet computers to photograph and deposit checks through online-banking apps surpassed scanner-based remote deposit capture several years ago, but 2014 was a record breaker, according to new findings from research firm Celent, a unit of the Oliver Wyman Group. Some 2,100 banks and credit …
• 26 May

  Payments Competition Will Likely Stunt Postal Service’s Search for New Revenue

  The U.S. Postal Service could generate as much as $1.1 billion in additional annual revenue after five years if it expanded its existing payment services. That’s according to a report from the USPS Office of Inspector General. But a hotly competitive market could dampen those prospects, experts say. Struggling with …