News

January, 2011

• 27 January

  Western Union Extends Prepaid Cards to Retail Outlets Through InComm

  The Western Union Co. is stepping up its presence in the general-purpose reloadable prepaid card market with a new agreement to offer its MoneyWise Prepaid Card at InComm retail locations throughout the U.S. InComm, a marketer, processor, and distributor of stored-valued gift and prepaid cards, has partnerships with more than …
• 27 January

  Seeking to Streamline Transactions, NACHA Drops Opt-Outs for ARC And BOC

  Starting in March, checks sent to lockboxes and some point of sale transactions can be processed by merchants and billers through the automated clearing house system without offering consumers a chance to opt out under new rules set by NACHA, the ACH’s regulatory organization. The new rules, which will be …
• 27 January

  Vancouver’s New Fare System Paves the Way for Contactless Bank Card Transit Payments

  Vancouver’s public-transportation authority has selected a $220 million fare-payment system from Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. that includes a transit-only reloadable contactless card but also the ability to accept general-purpose contactless cards. Replacing proprietary fare cards with systems that add transit capabilities to contactless credit and debit cards issued by banks …
• 26 January

  PA-DSS ‘Guidance’ for Mobile Apps Likely to Come This Year, PCI Council Says

  A freeze on approvals of mobile applications for card acceptance by merchants, announced in November by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), will likely be lifted some time before the end of the year. Top officials with the Wakefield, Mass.-based organization tell Digital Transactions News the Council is working …
• 24 January

  Consumers Still Skeptical of Mobile Payments, But Attitudes May Change Soon

  Despite the hype about mobile payments, most consumers still aren't comfortable using smart phones to pay for things, according to new research from the Bank Administration Institute and Hitachi Consulting. That, however, could change, and change soon. The study also shows that debit remains consumers' preferred payment choice, though its …
• 20 January

  PayPal Sees Durbin As ‘Neutral to Positive’ for Foreseeable Future

  The drastic reduction in debit card interchange revenue mandated by the Durbin Amendment will be somewhat favorable for PayPal Inc., an official with the e-commerce processor’s parent company said on Wednesday. “In the short and the medium term, we believe it’ll probably be neutral to positive on our performance,” said …
• 20 January

  Durbin Challenger Cooper of TCF Says, ‘I Told You So’

  It was an “I-told-you-so moment” Thursday morning for William A. Cooper, the outspoken chairman and chief executive of TCF Financial Corp. Cooper said many bankers dismissed TCF’s assertion that the Federal Reserve Board, in carrying out the dictates of the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law’s Durbin Amendment, would cut debit card interchange …
• 20 January

  Breach Investigations Show Alarming Advances In Malware

  Hackers continue to improve malware, third-party vendors continue to serve their clients poorly when it comes to data security, and the evidence points to Russia as the single biggest source of attacks on databases. Those are some of the highlights in the new Global Security Report 2011 from Trustwave Holdings …
• 19 January

  Eye on Mobile: Starbucks Pilot Goes National, Acculynk Goes Mobile, And Mitek Logs Clients

  In the largest U.S. chainwide expansion yet seen in mobile payments, Starbucks Coffee Co. announced on Wednesday it is extending its proprietary, prepaid mobile payments pilot to all of its U.S. company-owned stores. The move brings the chain’s Starbucks Card Mobile App to almost 6,800 stores and increases the number …
• 19 January

  Tenacious Cash Is Here for the Long Term, Report Says

  Cash: It’s still everywhere electronic payments want to be. Despite decades of gains by credit and debit cards, electronic commerce, the automated clearing house, and now mobile payments, cash is hanging on and will do so for many years, according to new findings from Aite Group LLC. Consumers spent $1.20 …