Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
The merchant-acquiring business continued its consolidation trend on Wednesday with the news that Priority Payment Systems LLC has merged with Cynergy Data LLC. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, has created an independent sales organization processing some $20 billion annually for 125,000 merchant clients. Comvest Partners, a West Palm …
May, 2014
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29 May
Dwolla Adds Next-Day Transfers, Harnessing the ACH System
Dwolla Inc. is in the next-day transfer business now. The alternative-payment network announced Thursday it is offering the service for withdrawals from Dwolla accounts to its users’ bank accounts. Relying on the automated clearing house system, the transfer service is an opportunity to use an existing network while Dwolla continues …
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29 May
Tens of Thousands of Merchants Use the Web To Find a Processor, But ISOs Fare Poorly
There’s at least $30 billion in annual volume up for grabs among merchants using the Web to seek out a processor. Trouble is, independent sales organizations are really lousy at Internet marketing, according to a report released this week. Indeed, ISOs, banks, and point-of-sale software vendors spend about $17 million …
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28 May
Entertainment Providers Among the Top Targets for Online Fraudsters, Report Finds
Entertainment companies providing cable, satellite, and pay-television services experience the highest rates of global fraud, says 2Checkout Inc., an e-commerce payment-services company, in its inaugural Fraud Index report. The index is based on transaction data made via more than 600 million devices that connect to 2Checkout’s payment service. Columbus, …
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27 May
Intuit Becomes an Electronic Bill-Pay Player With Its Acquisition of Check Inc.
By Jim Daly In what’s shaping up to be a very busy year in the vibrant world of electronic bill payments, financial-management software provider Intuit Inc. on Tuesday announced plans to buy online and mobile bill-pay services provider Check Inc. for $360 million. Rumored for about a month, the deal …
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25 May
Mobile-Capture Fraud Is Under Control, But Many Banks’ Risk Policies Are Primitive
As mobile remote deposit capture continues its transition from niche to mainstream financial service, a new study affirms earlier research that bankers’ fears about losses were largely overblown. At the same time, mobile remote-capture newbies do a less sophisticated job of risk management than their more experienced colleagues. The findings …
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22 May
Tim Hortons Adds a Mobile-Payments Function to Its App
Diners visiting a Tim Hortons restaurant in Canada and the United States now have a new way to pay for their meals and coffee. The restaurant chain, which has more than 3,600 Canadian locations and 870 in the United States, has added a mobile-payments function to its smart-phone app. …
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21 May
Criminals Eyeing More Personal Information in Online Attacks, Finds a Trustwave Report
Payment card data remains a top target for criminals, but personally identifiable information, such as birth dates and addresses, is growing in favor among them, finds the 2014 edition of the Trustwave Global Security Report. Based on an analysis of 691 data-breach investigations conducted in 2013 by Chicago-based security-services …
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21 May
Veteran ‘Payments Guys’ Create Bitnet to Ease Bitcoin Acceptance for Large Merchants
Bitcoin may remain volatile and controversial, but the digital currency holds enough potential that it is starting to attract seasoned payments professionals, particularly in the business of merchant acceptance. Witness Bitnet, founded in January by a pair of former executives with payments processor CyberSource Corp. to make it easier for …
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20 May
EMV Commercial Card Issuers May Herald PIN Dominance With Consumers
It’s still very early in the U.S. smart card game, but so far chip-and-PIN authentication dominates among commercial card issuers, according to new research by First Annapolis Consulting Inc. The findings could signal that chip-and-PIN will beat out chip-and-signature authentication as the United States prepares for broader smart card issuance …