News

March, 2015

• 23 March

  EMV May Crush POS Fraud, But Will Losses Online More Than Offset That Gain?

  The U.S. payments industry is counting on EMV chip cards to eliminate much if not all of the counterfeit and lost-and-stolen fraud merchants suffer at the point of sale. They may well do that when EMV is fully deployed, but is it likely that rising e-commerce fraud will swamp any …
• 23 March

  Square Unveils Debit-Based Square Cash for Businesses, and ‘$Cashtags’

  By Jim Daly Square Inc. on Monday introduced a business-oriented version of its Square Cash person-to-person payments service aimed at displacing checks. The merchant processor also unveiled so-called “$Cashtags,” which Square touts as a simple and fast way for people to get paid through Square Cash. Dubbed Cash Pro for …
• 20 March

  Analyst: Target Settlement Signals a Change in How the Courts View Data Breaches

  By Jim Daly Target Corp.’s $10 million settlement of a consumer class action stemming from its late-2013 data breach is significant not only because of its size, but also because it signals that courts are becoming more attentive to the harm consumers suffer from data breaches even if the payment …
• 19 March

  Plenti Offers Cross-Merchant Rewards—But Will Consumers Use It?

  When the Plenti loyalty program—announced Wednesday by American Express Co.—debuts this spring, it will mark the first time a U.S. consumer-rewards program on a national scale enabled points to be earned and used across multiple merchants. The inaugural group of merchants includes AT&T, ExxonMobil Corp., Macy’s Inc., Nationwide Mutual Insurance …
• 19 March

  Target To Pay $10 Million To Settle Data-Breach Consumer Class Action

  By Jim Daly Lawyers for Target Corp. and consumers affected by the big discount retailer’s 2013 data breach were scheduled to meet in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn., today to review a proposed settlement under which Target will pay up to $10 million to customers who suffered financial …
• 18 March

  With 92% Backing, NACHA’s Same-Day Proposal Will Go to Ballot Within Weeks

  A proposal to speed up processing on the automated clearing house network from next-day to same-day settlement will go to a ballot among NACHA voting members as early as next month, according to information posted this week on NACHA’s Web site. NACHA took comments on the proposal from early in …
• 17 March

  The clearXcxhange P2P Payment Service Adds U.S. Bank As An Owner And User

  Person-to-person payment company clearXchange has a fifth owner. U.S. Bank, a unit of U.S. Bancorp, said on Tuesday it had invested in the network and plans to offer clearXchange services. Terms were not disclosed. ClearXchange was founded by Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America Corp., and JPMorgan Chase & …
• 17 March

  Pot Payments Piteously Poor in an Otherwise Smokin’ Industry

  By Jim Daly Legal U.S. marijuana sales grew 74% to $2.7 billion in 2014 from $1.5 billion the year before, but you wouldn’t know it by the payment card and other electronic payments generated by the budding industry, according to a new research report. Even though about 20 states have …
• 17 March

  As P2P’s Popularity Shoots Upward, Facebook Enters the Game With Messenger

  The viral popularity of peer-to-peer payments among younger consumers hasn’t gone unnoticed at the massive social networks that serve their needs for instant communication. Facebook Inc. on Tuesday said it has introduced a P2P payments service on its Messenger platform and will be rolling it out across the country “over …
• 16 March

  With Small Merchants Lagging, Visa Embarks on EMV Education Tour to Hit Basics

  As the U.S. payment card industry migrates to EMV chip cards, there’s one group to which the payments industry needs to pay special attention. Smaller merchants have little awareness of what EMV is and how their businesses will be affected by it. That’s why Visa Inc. set out Friday on …