News

February, 2010

• 4 February

  Encryption, PIN Security, EMV Top Busy Agenda for PCI Council in 2010

  A busy year is on tap for the PCI Security Standards Council, with revisions due not only for the main Payment Card Industry data-security standard but also standards governing PIN-entry devices and payment-processing software applications. Plus, the PCI Council plans to take a close look at two widely discussed security …
• 4 February

  Debit Growth Is Still the Story As Visa And MasterCard File Results

  The bank card networks have weighed in with their latest earnings reports, and operating statistics within them show debit continues to boom while the unprecedented, recession-induced credit contraction over the past year may be nearing its end. At Visa Inc., which reported late Wednesday, U.S. debit payment volume hit $238 …
• 3 February

  Hackers Target Hotels for Card Data As Malware Gets More Insidious

  A growing emphasis by computer hackers on stealing payment card data from hotels and resorts and their increasingly sophisticated malicious software and attack methods are two highlights in a new report from security consulting and technology firm Trustwave Holdings Inc. Trustwave's Global Security Report 2010 summarizes findings from the Chicago-based …
• 2 February

  Fiserv Sees An Opportunity in Filters for the ACH’s New IAT Code

  As financial institutions find themselves processing more and more international transactions through a new application on the automated clearing house, the burden of sorting out payments that match various watch lists is mounting fast. That's creating an opportunity for processors and software vendors. One of the first to act is …
• 1 February

  VeriFone Goes Outside Usual Channels to Sell Its New iPhone Product

  VeriFone Holdings Inc.'s PAYware Mobile mobile-payments initiative includes not just the previously announced card swipe for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and an iPhone app, but also a marketing campaign that aims to make the payment terminal maker's brand name more familiar with consumers, especially consumers that run small businesses. San Jose, …

January, 2010

• 29 January

  M&A Optimism Rises Even As NAB Stays Mum About Possible Sale

  One of the nation's biggest independent sales organizations may be putting itself up for sale, indicating a possible thaw in an icy mergers-and-acquisition market for merchant processors. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Troy, Mich.-based North American Bancard has hired investment bank Deutsche Bank to advise it about a possible sale. …
• 28 January

  How XipWire Plans to Build Usage for Its Text-Based Payments System

  If consumer confusion is holding back mobile payments, a startup called XipWire Inc. figures it has an answer. The five-person Philadelphia company earlier this month launched a text-based service that lets handset users pay merchants as well as other individuals. But while other more established payments companies have already started …
• 28 January

  On the Back Burner in Congress, Interchange Heats up in California

  On the Back Burner in Congress, Interchange Heats up in California Proposed regulation of interchange is stalled in Congress, but California lawmakers are investigating the controversial revenue generator for credit and debit card issuers that merchants ultimately pay. It's not clear yet, however, whether the informational hearing held this week …
• 27 January

  UBC Backs ECR Giveaway with Merchant Leads And Appointments

  With merchant acquirers on the lookout for new ways to manage and motivate sales agents in a difficult economy, processor United Bank Card has launched a program for independent sales organizations that furnishes qualified merchant leads and also sets up appointments with those merchants. The new program specifically supports an …
• 27 January

  Study: Of All Breaches, Those Caused by Hacking Are the Costliest

  The cost of data breaches rose slightly last year, but breaches resulting from computer hacking incurred by far the highest losses, according to a new report from privacy and data-security research firm Ponemon Institute LLC. The average cost per compromised customer record rose to $204 in 2009 from $202 in …