News

April, 2009

• 7 April

  Surprise! Mobile-Banking Adoption Depends on Phone, Not Age

  Consumers' propensity to use mobile devices to conduct banking functions depends on the sophistication of the device, not on the consumer's age, according to recent research. Indeed, mobile users equipped with iPhones or other touchscreen-enabled smart phones are far more likely to use the devices for mobile financial services than …
• 6 April

  Internet Pioneer Case Promotes RevolutionCard to Audience of Bankers

  Entrepreneur Steve Case, whose founding of America Online Inc. helped popularize the Internet, told an audience of bankers on Monday that his new venture is set to shake up electronic payments by dramatically slashing costs for merchants and consumers. Case's remarks came on the same day that venture, St. Petersburg, …
• 2 April

  Recession Is Boosting Some Prepaid Cards, But Profits Are Lagging

  Prepaid cards branded by one of the national payment card networks are benefting most from the recession, but prepaid profitability overall is suffering, according to a survey of prepaid card executives whose results were released in a report this week. The survey, conducted by payments-research firm Aite Group LLC at …
• 2 April

  Fraudsters Beef up Attacks on Checks As the ‘Weakest Link’

  Check volumes may be declining, but check-related crime remains by far the most common type of payment fraud reported by corporate financial officers. What's more, while overall losses still remain small, fraud attempts increased last year and the recession could be a cause, according to the Association for Financial Professionals. …
• 1 April

  FIS’s Metavante Acquisition To Create a Processing Powerhouse

  Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) will buy Metavante Technologies Inc. in a $2.94 billion all-stock deal announced on Wednesday. The acquisition will create a bank- and payments-processing giant with $5 billion in combined revenue and a vast array of products in everything from core banking services to credit, debit, …

March, 2009

• 31 March

  Contactless Stickers for Cell Phones Move onto Payments Networks

  First Data Corp. announced on Tuesday it will use technology from Inside Contactless, a French chipmaker, for its Go-Tag product, a sticker that can be affixed to mobile phones to make them work like contactless-payment devices. Under the three-year agreement, Inside Contactless will supply so-called prelams, or chip-and-antenna elements, that …
• 31 March

  There’s No Bill, But the Interchange War Heats up in D.C. All the Same

  An interchange battle is raging this week in Washington D.C., even though there is no interchange bill pending in Congress. Some merchants, however, hope that will change soon and are pushing their agenda with an advertising campaign that includes a YouTube video and advertising designed to influence new members of …
• 30 March

  Sale of Fifth Third Processing Biggest Such Deal in More Than a Year

  In the biggest sale of a merchant acquirer in more than a year, private-equity firm Advent International Corp. will take a 51% stake in Fifth Third Processing Solutions through a deal announced today with the big processor's parent company, Fifth Third Bancorp. Boston-based Advent will pay $561 million in cash …
• 27 March

  Now in Pilot, Visa’s Consumer Alerts Set to Roll out Later This Year

  Visa Inc. is taking steps to more actively recruit consumers in its fraud-fighting efforts, including the development of an early-warning system that notifies cardholders in real-time when their cards are being used. Visa's Transaction Alert system, currently in pilot at banks including U.S. Bank, PNC Corp., and Wells Fargo & …
• 26 March

  Acquiring Gains at First Data Despite a Tough Merchant Environment

  First Data Corp. on Wednesday reported merchant-services revenue of $1.1 billion, up 18%. Excluding debit-network fees and Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, revenue growth was 1%. First Data in November terminated its joint venture with JPMorgan Chase & Co. to operate Chase Paymentech. First Data signed nearly 116,000 domestic merchant locations, …