News

February, 2015

• 26 February

  Mass EMV Chip Card Issuance Awaits: Survey

    The deluge of EMV chip cards for the majority of U.S. consumers has yet to happen, finds a survey by ORC International Inc. In the survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, only 26% said they had a chip card. That figure increases slightly among consumers with credit cards, …
• 26 February

  Using Apple And Samsung Biometric ID, Sekur Me Bids To Hike Mobile Conversion

  A new service that integrates Apple Inc.’s Touch ID and Samsung’s fingerprint-recognition technology into a single mobile-payments app says it can help boost conversion, and ease shopping-cart abandonment, for mobile-commerce retailers. Santa Ana, Calif.-based Sekur Me Inc. uses the biometric sensors in Apple and Samsung smart phones to authenticate the …
• 25 February

  Staples And Jack Henry Offerings Promise Yet Hotter Market for Small-Biz Funding

  Funding for small businesses has been an increasingly important source of revenue for independent sales organizations and other merchant acquirers, but they’re not the only parties that have noticed the market’s lucrative potential. Now, banking-technology vendors and even large merchants are getting into the game. Jack Henry & Associates Inc., …
• 25 February

  Gemalto Says Spy Operation ‘Probably Happened,’ but Downplays Its Effect

  By Digital Transactions News Staff The big SIM and EMV chip manufacturer Gemalto NV on Wednesday acknowledged that an alleged operation by U.S. and British electronic spy agencies targeting the company “probably happened,” but the Amsterdam-based firm downplayed its impact. The alleged operation in 2010 and 2011 by the United …
• 24 February

  JPMorgan Chase says ChaseNet Rollout Is Exceeding Expectations

  By Jim Daly JPMorgan Chase & Co. reported Tuesday that 60,000 merchants use its in-house ChaseNet merchant-processing venture and as of January they were generating annualized charge volume of $16 billion. Merchants in the venture include United Airlines, the Marriott hotel chain, DirecTV, 1-800 Flowers, Groupon, Zillow, and Barnes & …
• 23 February

  While Many Decry Margin Compression, Report Paints Sunnier Picture of Acquirer Profit

  Many merchant-services executives have complained for years about so-called margin compression, a relentless loss of profitability driven by competition on price per transaction. But now two researchers argue acquirer profitability, far from collapsing, is actually much better than widely thought. “There has been a lot of talk about margin compression, …
• 23 February

  Did Spies Secretly Steal Chip Producer Gemalto’s Electronic Keys?

  By Digital Transactions News Staff Gemalto NV, one of the largest manufacturers of SIM cards for mobile phones and a key vendor for U.S. payment card producers as the nation converts to the EMV chip card standard, suddenly has found itself in the middle of a spy scandal involving the …
• 23 February

  With Its Softcard Deal, Google Cements Carrier Support And Turns up Heat on Apple Pay

  When Google Inc. launched its Google Wallet mobile-payments service nearly four years ago, it quickly ran into a formidable obstacle: three major mobile carriers, including two of the nation’s largest, wouldn’t let Google Wallet work on their phones. Now Google has finally found a solution, and it’s one that could …
• 20 February

  Many Questions Hang Over Samsung’s LoopPay Deal And What Will Come Next

  There’s a simple reason why Samsung Electronics America Inc. bought LoopPay Inc.: It wants a “truly digital wallet.” That’s the reason given by David Eun, Samsung executive vice president and head of the mega-corporation’s investment unit, Samsung Global Innovation Center. “We have a shared vision to inspire users to transition …
• 19 February

  Heartland Begins a ‘Trusted Dealer Program’ to Bolster Multiple Product Sales

  Heartland Payment Systems Inc. is building a point-of-sale system reseller network in hopes it will increase the number of multiple products sold to a single merchant. Announced Friday, the program is part of Heartland Commerce, and signals a shift in Heartland’s selling strategy. The company will no longer use a …