News

February, 2015

• 10 February

  Americans Overwhelmingly Prefer Paper Bills, but Increasingly Pay Them Electronically

  More than 90% of Americans still prefer to receive paper bills, but a strong majority of them pay electronically, according to findings released Monday from a survey sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General. The three-month study of customer records from a major East Coast utility …
• 10 February

  A New Study Says More Than 30% of Big Merchants Are Not PCI-Compliant

  Fudging the numbers about their merchants’ compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI) may be a common practice by merchant acquirers if findings from a new study about payment card data security are to be believed. The study by the Merchant Acquirers’ Committee, an association of more than …
• 10 February

  COMMENTARY: Ignore the Naysayers! Here’s Why Apple Pay Will Be a Winner

  Here’s a resolution that the payments industry should consider: Stop doubting market capabilities and start anticipating currents within the technological wave. With the unveiling of Apple Pay, naysayers are already coming out in full force. However, I’ve spent considerable time in the card-not-present environment, giving me a unique perspective on …
• 10 February

  First Data Reports First Profit in 29 Quarters Since Going Private

  Leading payment processor First Data Corp. late Tuesday reported its first quarterly profit since being taken private in a $29 billion leveraged buyout by investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in 2007. Net income wasn’t big, $11.8 million, but it beat the $123.1 million loss Atlanta-based First Data reported …
• 9 February

  It’s Quieter Than Starbucks, But Cumberland’s Mobile App Is Ringing up Results, Too

  Gasoline retailer Cumberland Farms, which operates nearly 600 stores in eight Northeastern states, is proving you don’t have to sell fancy coffee concoctions to generate impressive results with a mobile app. The program, which Cumberland calls SmartPay, enrolled 100,000 customers in the first 45 days after its 2013 launch—a response …
• 9 February

  Physical Stores Still Dominate Retail Despite Headlines on Mobile, Online Commerce

  In spite of all the hoopla about burgeoning e-commerce and mobile-commerce activity, consumers still prefer to shop inside a store, finds the “Total Retail: Retailers and the Age of Disruption” report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. Of the more than 1,000 U.S. consumers surveyed, only 27% said they shop online weekly. But, …
• 6 February

  EMVCo Aims for a ‘Smoother Experience’ in Revised Spec for Online Payment Security

  With the Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip card movement well under way in the U.S. market, a key standards body is training its sights on a technology many believe could combat the fraud EMV is expected to drive to the Web. By the end of this year, EMVCo plans to have a …
• 5 February

  Eye on Processors: EMV Card Orders Boost FIS; Fiserv’s Debit Business Grows

  Orders for Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) smart cards rolled in for bank and payment processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) in the fourth quarter while rival Fiserv Inc. saw increases in its multi-faceted payments business. Jacksonville, Fla.-based FIS on Thursday reported $647.2 million in fourth-quarter revenues from its Payment Solutions Group …
• 5 February

  Eye on Litigation: Visa Seeks Dismissal of Pulse Lawsuit; Numerous Opt-Out Merchants Settle

  By Jim Daly In the opinion of Visa Inc.’s lawyers, the Pulse PIN-debit network’s antitrust suit against the leading payment card network shouldn’t even have a pulse because Pulse hasn’t shown it has been harmed. Meanwhile, Google Inc. and a number of merchants that individually sued Visa and MasterCard Inc. …
• 5 February

  Cardtronics Finds Banks To Fill Part of Its Chase ATM Void

  Leading retail ATM network owner Cardtronics Inc. has already found banks ready to put their brands on 40% of the Cardtronics ATMs that until recently bore the JPMorgan Chase & Co. brand, chief executive Steve Rathgaber told analysts Wednesday. Chase informed Houston-based Cardtronics about three months ago that it planned …