News

March, 2013

• 21 March

  Blackhawk Network Gives a Sneak Peak Into Its Inner Workings Ahead of Its IPO

  International expansion and broader distribution in the United States are among the major initiatives on tap for gift card and prepaid card seller and program manager Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. to grow its business, according a filing Blackhawk made this week in preparation for its planned initial public offering. Some …
• 21 March

  Mobile-Payments Startup LevelUp Expands Its Footprint With a New Heartland Partnership

  LevelUp, the mobile-payments unit of Boston-based SCVNGR Inc., announced a partnership with the big merchant acquirer Heartland Payment Systems Inc. on Thursday that will dramatically expand its national reach with merchants and make its white-label mobile app more affordable to merchants wanting to increase their loyalty marketing. The agreement gives …
• 20 March

  Retailer Genesco Sues Visa To Recover $13 Million in Disputed PCI Fines

    Sports apparel and accessories retailer Genesco Inc. has gone to court to challenge  $13.3 million in fines levied by Visa Inc. for alleged violations of the Payment Card Industry data-security standard. Genesco’s may be the first retailer lawsuit filed against a card network over the PCI security standards, according …
• 20 March

  EFT Networks and Discover Strike a Deal That Could Resolve a Chip Card Controversy

    With help from Discover Financial Services, regional electronic funds transfer networks this week took a major step toward ending a dilemma over how merchants can route PIN-debit transactions made on chip cards through EFT networks and still meet the Durbin Amendment’s transaction-routing requirements. Previously, the main routes available for …
• 18 March

  VeriFone Overhauls Its Management Team as It Enters the Post-Bergeron Era

  Troubled point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. on Monday announced sweeping changes in its management ranks, appointing four new people to top positions a week after long-time chief executive Douglas Bergeron resigned. One of the key appointments is Eliezer Yanay, who headed San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone’s global research and development, …
• 14 March

  The FTC Warns of Fraud and Consumer Privacy Issues as Mobile Payments Gain Traction

  The Federal Trade Commission is becoming concerned that consumers who use the many emerging mobile-payments services won’t always be protected from fraud and privacy violations. In a staff report released this week entitled “Paper, Plastic or Mobile? An FTC Workshop on Mobile Payments,” the FTC lists a series of recommendations …
• 14 March

  New Data Show Consumers Once Again Are Willing To Pull Out Their Credit Cards

  Credit cards began staging a somewhat wobbly post-recession recovery in 2010 and 2011. But new figures from First Data Corp. and Visa Inc. indicate credit card charge volume is back to just about full health. In a mid-March investor presentation, Visa reported that U.S. credit card payment volume increased 11% …
• 12 March

  With No Argo-Style Rescue Coming, Bergeron Calls It Quits at VeriFone

    Dogged by seemingly unrelenting bad news that now includes possible violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran, leading point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. late Monday said its long-time chief executive officer Douglas G. Bergeron “is stepping down,” effective today. The company named its chairman, Richard McGinn, as interim chief …
• 11 March

  Eye on Digital Currency: Amazon Sellers Get Bitcoin Option; Hackers Steal Bitcoins

  BitPay Inc., a payment processor for digital Bitcoin payments, has integrated its services with Amazon.com Inc.’s Fulfillment-by-Amazon Web service. It’s the first move into large-scale e-commerce for companies wishing to accept Bitcoin payments over the Bitcoin peer-to-peer network, Atlanta-based BitPay says. Fulfillment-by-Amazon (FBA) allows a seller with inventory in Amazon’s …
• 8 March

  Duffy Led Chase Paymentech Through Industry and Ownership Changes

  Mike Duffy, president and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Chase Paymentech merchant-acquiring subsidiary and one of the acquiring industry’s most prominent figures, died Thursday after a long illness. “It is difficult to put into words how much Mike will be missed,” said Gordon Smith, chief executive of Chase …