News

January, 2010

• 20 January

  As Best Buy Tries Bill-Pay Kiosks, TIO Hopes for Big Expansion

  A 35-store deployment at Best Buy Co. Inc., announced late last week, could be the start of a major breakthrough in bill-payment kiosks for TIO Networks Corp. The Vancouver, B.C.-based processor says the machines, which have been live for about four months in a four-market trial in the Atlanta, Las …
• 20 January

  Apriva Launches a Pair of Merchant Apps for Smart Phones

  The choices available for merchants eyeing mobile commerce expanded this week when wireless-payment technology provider Apriva Inc. unveiled two applications that turn smart phones into mobile-payment terminals. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Apriva is differentiating itself in the booming m-commerce marketplace by claiming space as a full-service software and services provider for merchants …
• 19 January

  Recession Helps Fuel Merchant Interest in Online PIN Debit

  Merchant e-Solutions Inc., which on Tuesday announced it is actively marketing online PIN debit to both existing and prospective e-commerce merchants, credits the deep recession of the past year or so with helping to drive merchant interest in the service. “The recession has made [online PIN debit] more important,” says …
• 18 January

  Haiti Earthquake Puts Mobile Payments in the Spotlight

  While a disaster of massive proportions, the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti nevertheless is boosting online giving and mobile payments in particular as U.S. donors seek the fastest way of putting their donations to work in the stricken country. As of 9 a.m. Eastern time Monday, more than 2 million …
• 15 January

  Amazon’s PayPhrase Cuts Cart Abandonment for eFashionSolutions

  It's too early to make a final judgment, but a Web-site design and hosting company serving 25 online fashion retailers says acceptance of Amazon.com Inc.'s new PayPhrase is doing one of the key things online retailers want a payment service to do?reduce shopping-cart abandonment. Secaucus, N.J.-based eFashionSolutions LLC is one …
• 14 January

  MasterCard’s SunTrust Coup Includes Credit As Well As Debit Cards

  MasterCard Inc. struck the latest blow in its ongoing fight with Visa Inc. for issuer loyalty with Thursday's announcement that SunTrust Banks Inc. would switch its entire 5-million-card debit portfolio from Visa to the MasterCard brand. While one analyst called it a minor win, SunTrust's conversion underscores the growing importance …
• 13 January

  Card Industry Has a Compelling Case for Data Encryption, Report Says

  End-to-end encryption of cardholder account data during the transaction process is an imperfect solution to payment card fraud, but it's the most practical out there now for the U.S., a new report about fraud management from Aite Group LLC concludes. The report estimates that fraud cost the U.S. card industry …
• 13 January

  Later This Year for Rules Clearing the Way for All-Digital Checks

  A set of rules governing the exchange of a new type of all-digital check could be in place as early as late summer, allowing banks and vendors to begin work on offering a product that would work on mobile phones and would entirely do away with paper. That's if current …
• 12 January

  Star Ushers in New Rates, with Interchange Spiffs for Some Issuers

  Star, one of the nation's largest electronic funds transfer networks, on March 1 will implement changes in its interchange pricing for point-of-sale transactions that in some cases will include dramatic increases and an elimination of fee maximums. The network is also introducing on April 1 a new fee category that …
• 11 January

  Best Buy Cuts off Visa Contactless with Little Risk to Sales

  The struggling U.S. contactless card market took another blow late last year when leading consumer-electronics retailer Best Buy Co. Inc. stopped accepting the Visa payWave contactless card, reportedly because it objected to paying Visa Inc.'s signature-debit interchange rates. Best Buy's action probably cost the retailer nothing in lost sales but …