News

February, 2011

• 1 February

  New York’s Open-Fare Transit Plan Starts Down the Development Path

  After about four years of testing, the New York City area’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is beginning the process of building a fare-payment system based on general-purpose contactless cards. MTA officials tell Digital Transactions News that they plan to publish a so-called Concept of Operations, a document outlining the agency’s broad …
• 1 February

  With Bill Pay Added to e-Bills, Doxo Aims to Boost Digital Billing

  With more consumers paying bills electronically than are receiving them that way, a startup that lets consumers receive and store digital copies of their bills announced on Tuesday it is introducing a payment service aimed at closing that gap. Seattle-based doxo Inc., which in October launched a document-management service modeled …

January, 2011

• 27 January

  Eye on Earnings: TSYS Looks to Acquiring, AmEx Volume Jumps

  Payment processor Total System Services Inc. sees new opportunities in merchant acquiring while No. 3 credit card network American Express Co. saw a double-digit jump in charge volume in the fourth quarter, an indication of a possible revival in consumer spending. Boosted by its new business from merchant acquirer First …
• 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 …