Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
A law firm co-leading the merchant class-action interchange lawsuit against Visa USA, MasterCard Inc. and a number of their large members yesterday filed a supplemental complaint in federal court asserting that MasterCard's imminent initial public offering of stock is an attempt to shield itself from antitrust liability for past interchange …
Read More »Tiny LendingTools.com Has Big Ambitions for National Image Exchange
A small Wichita, Kan.-based software company is getting set to take a big step in bringing image exchange to small financial institutions around the country. Starting with the north central region of the U.S., LendingTools.com Inc., a provider of Web-based systems for image processing and origination of automated clearing house …
Read More »Key Issues Nag NACHA As It Nears Internet Payments Pilot
NACHA, which took the opportunity presented by its annual payments trade show this week in San Diego to promote the upcoming pilot of its new Internet payment application, appears to be on track toward its Aug. 30 target date for recruiting most participants for the project. But key issues like …
Read More »NACHA Chairman Looks to Retry NREF, Will Push Internet Payments
The chairman of the board of NACHA, the rules-setting organization for the automated clearing house network, looks for widespread adoption of a new point-of-sale payment application the association approved this week and says the network will try again this year to introduce a controversial fee aimed at controlling risk. Chairman …
Read More »PCI’s POS Costs Slow Retailer Adoption, Terminal Exec Says
Reluctance by merchants and independent sales organizations to assume the added costs of compliant terminals is contributing to the apparently slow rate at which retailers are adopting the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, an executive with a major terminal maker says. According to recent data from Visa USA, one of …
Read More »AmEx Discount Revenues Grow, but Rate Continues To Slip
Boosted by higher charge volume on its cards, American Express Co. on Monday reported in its first-quarter financials that discount revenue grew 13% to $2.97 billion, up 13% from $2.64 billion in 2005's first quarter. The travel-and-entertainment giant however, warned of “some erosion” in the average discount rate in the …
Read More »ATM Surcharges, Number of Banks Assessing Them, Rise Again
More banks than ever now levy surcharges on ATM transactions performed by non-customers, and the fee is now higher than ever, according to new data released this week by Bankrate.com, a service of Bankrate Inc. The average ATM surcharge is now $1.60, up from $1.54 in the fall of 2005, …
Read More »No Visa Incentive Just for Contactless, But One May No Longer Be Needed
Visa USA's announcement this week of a new program to foster card transactions in the growing category of small-value payments would seem at first blush to be the bank card network's answer to some observers' long-held contention that the card associations should create incentives for the emerging technology of contactless …
Read More »ViVOtech Boss Predicts NFC Will Soon Enable Payments for E-Retailers
The chief executive of the company holding the largest market share of installed readers for contactless payments predicts the technology, assisted by near-field communication (NFC) capability, will move rapidly from the physical point of sale to e-commerce. Mohammad Khan, president and founder of ViVOtech Inc., which makes electronic wallets for …
Read More »Citigroup Will Brand 5,500 7-Eleven ATMs in Surcharge-Free Deal
In a move that quintuples the number of ATMs in its network, Citigroup Inc. today announced it will brand machines in 5,500 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores in 31 states. The ATMs, which will bear the Citibank brand, will allow customers to withdraw cash without incurring surcharges, a feature the bank …
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