News

November, 2014

• 28 November

  Online Sales Jump on Black Friday And Thanksgiving, With Apple Far Ahead of Android

  With Black Friday results nearly in the books, the holiday-shopping season has officially started, though some observers argue it really began this year on Thanksgiving day itself with a flurry of mobile commerce. Much of that commerce is being driven by users of Apple Inc. devices. Controlling by far the …
• 26 November

  Pulse Sues ‘Long-Time Monopolist’ Visa Over Post-Durbin Debit Actions, Seeks Rival’s ‘Restructuring’

  Over the past several years, during his conference calls with analysts to review Discover Financial Services’ quarterly earnings, chief executive David W. Nelms occasionally took swipes at Visa Inc.’s efforts to maintain its dominant debit card market share in the wake of the Durbin Amendment, which severely undercut Visa’s Interlink …
• 25 November

  CFPB Rules May Aid Larger Prepaid Card Issuers: Report

    The 870-page tome of proposed rules issued Nov. 13 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to govern prepaid cards may end up benefitting the top prepaid card issuers, says securities-rating agency Fitch Ratings. The regulations would require so-called “Know Before You Owe” disclosures and aim to improve consumers’ access to account …
• 25 November

  Merchants May Need a Map To Navigate Multiple Token Schemes: Analyst

    No doubt merchants and the payments industry understand the value of removing valuable cardholder data from merchant payment systems via tokenization. Doing so, however, may complicate merchants\' data-security practices and carry costs, suggests Avivah Litan, vice president and analyst at advisory firm Gartner Inc., in a blog post. Tokenization …
• 25 November

  E-Commerce Spending for November Up 11% Over 2013, comScore Reports

  Electronic-commerce spending from work and home desktop computers from Nov 1-23 hit $17.5 billion, up 11% from $15.8 billion in the same period a year earlier, Internet metrics firm comScore Inc. reported Tuesday. Most e-commerce spending is charged to credit and debit payment cards, so the early results for the …
• 24 November

  Gift Cards Top Holiday Wish Lists, With Total Spending Estimated at $31.74 Billion

    Consumers want gift cards this holiday season, but are reluctant to ask for them, finds a survey from CashStar Inc., a Portland, Maine-based company that specializes in e-coupons and digital gift cards. Meanwhile the National Retail Federation forecasts that consumers will spend $31.74 billion on gift cards this holiday …
• 24 November

  Three Years After Durbin, Debit Pricing Flaw Still Drives up Cost for Small-Ticket Sellers

  Three years after the Durbin Amendment took effect, the law’s painful impact on the cost of selling soda, candy, newspapers, and other small-ticket items remains an issue. And things may stay that way unless the newly elected Congress acts after taking office at the turn of the year, observers say. …
• 21 November

  Stress on Data Helps Swipely Hit $4-Billion Mark in Processing Volume

    Merchant-services provider Swipely Inc. says it is now managing more than $4 billion in annual sales generated by its restaurant, hospitality, and retail clients, representing a four-fold increase over 2013, the company says. Providence, R.I.-based Swipely chief executive Angus Davis says the company’s three-pronged sales approach helps. In addition …
• 21 November

  OrderWithMe Debuts Service To Help Small Merchants Counter Showrooming

    Consumers walking around stores with their smart phones in hand often send a potentially troublesome signal to many retailers. The shoppers could be shopping an online retailer’s site while using the brick-and-mortar merchant’s store as a showroom. It’s a phenomenon that Las Vegas-based OrderWithMe Inc. says it can help …
• 21 November

  MasterCard: Sub-Merchants Don’t Need To Own Accounts Until Volume Hits $1 Million

  In what observers say indicates a growing acceptance of merchant aggregation by payment networks, MasterCard Inc. has increased by 10 times the charge-volume threshold at which a so-called sub-merchant must get its own merchant account. In addition, MasterCard’s recent rule changes preserve back-office settlement procedures that, had the old $100,000 …