Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin on Thursday asked MasterCard Inc. to explain an obscure fee with a clunky name that the senator believes penalizes MasterCard issuers when merchants exercise their transaction-routing rights under the Durbin Amendment with MasterCard debit card purchases. But MasterCard says issuers benefit whenever its cards are used, …
Read More »Following Its Decision to Put off a Rollout, MCX to Shut Down Its CurrentC Pilot on June 28
When the Merchant Customer Exchange LLC announced last month it is postponing a rollout of its CurrentC pilot in Columbus, Ohio, observers suspected the news did not bode well for the merchant-controlled mobile wallet. On Monday, those suspicions were confirmed as MCX told CurrentC account holders in an email that …
Read More »As the mPOS Revolution Spreads to More Merchants, Players Must Build Scale Fast
The mobile point-of-sale revolution started in North America with smart-phone readers from startups like Square Inc. and established software houses like Intuit Inc., but it’s now a global phenomenon with broad implications for entrenched players and newcomers alike, according to research released Monday. Indeed, mobile POS gear—chiefly phones or tablets …
Read More »Payments Veteran Khan Says His New Wallet, OmnyPay, Is Nearing Its Retailer Launch
Mobile-wallet provider OmnyPay Inc. is nearing the launch of its white-label service, which includes payments, loyalty, and offers, with a top 30 U.S. retailer. The debut is expected within the next few months. That’s the word from Mohammad Khan, OmnyPay president and cofounder, in an interview with Digital Transactions News. …
Read More »Visa Gets OK for Visa Europe Purchase and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• Visa Inc. said the European Commission, the competition authority of the European Union, approved its planned acquisition of bank card association Visa Europe Ltd.; the $23-billion-plus deal has now received all regulatory approvals, and Visa Inc. expects it to close by June 30. • Visa debuted a payment ring for Team …
Read More »Eye on Washington: ATM Deployers Slam Operation Choke Point; NRF Wants PCI Probe
A trade group of independent ATM deployers on Thursday issued a report blasting the federal government’s Operation Choke Point targeting high-risk merchants, and the nation’s leading retailer association called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the PCI Security Standards Council on antitrust grounds. While mostly affecting a few merchant …
Read More »How Are the ‘Pays’ Doing? Latest Research Says Usage Is Limited, But Users Are Happy
By John Stewart @DTPaymentNews Ever since Apple Pay debuted in 2014, payments pundits have wondered how fast mobile payments would catch on with consumers. The near-simultaneous arrival of two rivals, Android Pay and Samsung Pay, last fall only made the question more urgent. And now data is emerging that indicates …
Read More »Harbortouch Swaps Private-Equity Partners in Deal Valued at $500 Million-Plus
Merchant-services company Harbortouch Payments LLC has a new private-equity investor in a deal valued at more than $500 million. Searchlight Capital Partners L.P. announced Wednesday it made an investment in Allentown, Pa.-based Harbortouch. Jared Isaacman, Harbortouch chief executive and founder, says the deal is valued at more than $500 million, …
Read More »Benefits and Risks of Remote Deposit Capture and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• PayPal Holdings Inc. plans to cease operations in Turkey in the next week because financial regulators there rejected its license applications, apparently because it does not keep its IT systems in Turkey, Fortune reported. • Some 88% of 400 respondents to a RemoteDepositCapture.com poll about risk said the benefits …
Read More »Beanstream’s U.S. Venture Targets ISVs As It Taps Parent Bambora’s Processing Reach
Canadian payment processor Beanstream says its U.S. foray is hoping to tap into its parent company’s international reach as Beanstream USA targets software developers and integrators. Beanstream’s U.S. effort—announced earlier this month—is meant to get a piece of the independent software vendor and value-added reseller market that so many payments …
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