News

December, 2012

• 6 December

  An Expansion-Minded EVO Buys PowerPay And Looks to Europe With its Deutsche Bank Deal

  It’s been a tad busy at EVO Payments International over the past week. On Thursday, the big independent sales organization disclosed it had bought another ISO, Portland, Maine-based PowerPay. On Nov. 29, EVO announced a deal with Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest bank by assets, under which it will buy …
• 5 December

  By Taking a Pass on NFC, Apple Punches a Hole in a Key NFC Forecast

  When Apple Inc. this fall launched its latest smart phone, the iPhone 5, without a near-field communication (NFC) chipset, the move was widely seen as a blow to the prospects for NFC as a technology for mobile payments. Now comes a report estimating just how damaging that blow could be. …
• 5 December

  Mitek Lands U.S. Bank As a Client for Its New Mobile-Imaging Bill-Pay Technology

  Mitek Systems Inc., the leading developer of software for mobile remote deposit capture, announced on Wednesday that U.S. Bank will offer its new Mobile Photo Bill Pay product to its customers in 2013. The news is a breakthrough for Mitek in taking its key mobile-imaging technology beyond its original deposit …
• 4 December

  After Prolonged Development, A Startup Begins to Vend Prepaid Cards from ATMs

  After five years of development, an ATM technology company with its eyes on the prepaid card market says its business model of selling prepaid cards through ATMs is ready for prime time. As evidence, Better ATM Services Inc. on Tuesday announced it would enable the sale of a Discover-branded gift …
• 3 December

  To Reap Mobile Harvest, Online Sellers Must Optimize for Mobile, Braintree Exec Says

  If the start of the holiday-shopping season this year has demonstrated anything, it is the new prominence of mobile in the mix of payments. But for all the talk among online merchants about mobile payments, not all will benefit equally from the trend, according to Bill Ready, chief executive of …

November, 2012

• 29 November

  Apriva Extends Agreement With Visa To Offer Discounted Vending-Machine Pricing

  Fewer than two months after a competitor announced a similar deal, wireless payments provider Apriva Inc. this week reported that it would continue offering pre-Durbin Amendment discounted acceptance pricing on Visa cards to vending-machine operators. Debit card interchange in late 2011 became a major concern for vending-machine operators and other …
• 27 November

  Commentary: Not Responding to Square’s Wakeup Call Could Be Hazardous to Acquirers

  By Todd Ablowitz If you’ve attended any acquirers’ conferences, tuned into industry news, or followed payments trends this past year, you’ve surely noticed a common topic: “Should we beware of Square?” Square has created quite a stir by growing in just three years from a Silicon Valley startup to a …
• 27 November

  With FSV Under Its Wing, U.S. Bank Poised To Become a Full-Service Prepaid Card Provider

  Already a major player in the prepaid card industry, U.S. Bancorp on Tuesday announced plans to bolster that part of its payment card business by acquiring FSV Payment Services, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based prepaid card program manager and processor. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bank issues prepaid cards for more than 4 million account …
• 27 November

  Merchants Appeal a Key Part of the Credit Card Interchange Settlement

  Merchants opposed to the agreement settling a massive, 7-year-old credit card interchange case filed an appeal on Tuesday challenging the court’s preliminary approval of a key part of the pact. The appeal, filed by four merchants and seven merchant trade groups, comes on the same day as the U.S. District Court for …
• 26 November

  Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping Numbers Generally Soar Upward Vs. Last Year

  The reports about consumer spending over the long Thanksgiving shopping period extending into today, Cyber Monday, continue to flow ad nauseam in the mainstream press. Digital Transactions News sifted through the statistical stew to find the numerical nuggets of greatest interest to merchant acquirers. The early data indicate that, when …