News

July, 2014

• 24 July

  Annual Wallet Payments Total More Than a Quarter Billion, According to Updated Fed Study

  Transactions using mobile wallets totaled at least 250.6 million and amounted to at least $9.5 billion in value in 2012, according to a payments report issued Thursday by the Federal Reserve. These results, part of a comprehensive update to a study released in December, represent the central bank’s first effort …
• 24 July

  Tokenization Plays the Central Role in Visa’s New Cloud Payment Suite

  Visa Inc. moved on Thursday to commercialize mobile payments using cloud-based near-field communication technology with its release of Visa Cloud Payment Solutions. A related development, the announcement of the upcoming debut of a tokenization service, is aimed at locking down cloud-based NFC and other digital payments. The new services include …
• 24 July

  Visa Sees a Digital-Payments Future, but the Present Is Still Producing Tidy Profits

  On the heels of a quarter that featured a nearly 10% increase in U.S. payment volume, Visa Inc. chief executive Charles W. Scharf signaled Thursday that the leading payment network is counting on new digital services to power future growth. Those services include the new Visa Checkout online payment service …
• 22 July

  Spurning Publicity, Amazon Launches a Mobile Wallet with Modest Features—So Far

  Without fanfare, Amazon.com Inc. last week introduced a trial version of its first digital wallet. The free Android app, known as Amazon Wallet, has been available since July 17 on Amazon’s own App Store and on Google Play. It is also available pre-installed on Amazon’s recently unveiled smart phone, the …
• 22 July

  Durbin Routing Rules Should Apply to ATMs, ATMIA Urges in Meeting with Fed

  The ATM Industry Association met today with members of the Federal Reserve staff to discuss making ATM debit transactions subject to the routing requirements of the Durbin Amendment to the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. The association, which represents ATM independent sales organizations and other retail deployers, wants the provision because it …
• 21 July

  Another Zero Option: Cloud-based POS Provider Pose Drops Its Software Fee

    Pose POS Ltd., a cloud-based point-of-sale system, has changed its pricing model to a free one, at least for the monthly fee. Formerly $49 a month for the POS service, Pose now charges nothing to use its app, which is available on any device that can operate Google Inc.’s …
• 21 July

  ACI To Expand Its Fraud-Protection Services Menu Through Its Acquisition of ReD

  After beefing up its bill-payment services through two acquisitions in 2013, ACI Worldwide Inc. is now turning its attention to fraud prevention. The Naples, Fla.-based payments-software firm on Monday announced that it plans to buy prominent e-commerce fraud-detection and prevention services provider Retail Decisions Plc (ReD) for $205 million in …
• 21 July

  Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s Deal for First American Underscores Profitability of Merchant Processing

    An investment consortium led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is buying First American Payment Systems L.P., a Fort Worth, Texas-based payment processor and independent sales organization, in a deal that observers say highlights the profitability of merchant processing, despite ongoing margin pressure. First American says the Toronto-based pension …
• 18 July

  Twitter, Facebook Make Payments Moves, But Do They Threaten Payments Firms?

  Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. both made moves in the electronic-payments space this week, but analysts question whether the giant social networks are preparing frontal assaults on the payments industry. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook on Thursday revealed that it is testing a “Buy” button that will let members buy products directly …
• 17 July

  Merchants Face A SNAP Decision on Payment Terminals

    Many merchants that accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program transactions face an important decision between now and Sept. 21. By then, participating merchants in the SNAP no longer are eligible for subsidized payment terminals because of a change in law mandated by Congress. Until this change, states were allowed to …