A new report finds that fraud activity is surging, while Landry’s Inc. says it has uncovered malware on its point-of-sale system and removed it. Identify fraud is on the rise, finds the 2016 Identity Fraud Study released Tuesday by Javelin Strategy & Research. The Pleasanton, Calif.-based research firm found that …
Read More »Longer Checkouts for EMV Don’t Seem To Be Fazing Consumers in the Early Going
When the U.S. rollout of EMV cards started in earnest last year, many experts predicted consumers would soon tire of the time-consuming chip-reading routine, putting pressure on the payments industry to usher in contactless EMV and more mobile wallets. But that’s not happening, at least not all that much and …
Read More »Most Shoppers Indifferent to Merchant Data Breaches, Survey Finds
Consumers seem to be very forgiving of retailers who experience data breaches, according to findings from a recent survey for the Merchant Acquirers’ Committee, a trade group of payment processors. Most customers resume shopping—and using a payment card—at a breached retailer within a few months, and among those that don’t …
Read More »A Venmo In-App Service And a First Data Deal Help Expand PayPal’s Merchant Reach
On Wednesday, PayPal Holdings Inc. made it clear it hasn’t given up on expanding its reach with merchants beyond processing e-commerce payments. The company announced a new in-app payments initiative for its popular Venmo peer-to-peer payments app, a move that follows a recent agreement with First Data Corp. that furthers …
Read More »Green Dot Responds in Measured Tones After Fiery Investor Calls for CEO’s Firing
Prepaid card services provider Green Dot Corp. has struggled to make profits sufficiently large to keep restive shareholders at bay since it became a publicly traded company in 2010. Now one of those shareholders, Harvest Capital Strategies LLC, is calling for the ouster of company founder and chief executive Steve …
Read More »In a Bid to Build on Strengths, TSYS Clinches a $2.35 Billion Deal To Buy TransFirst
Processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) is buying acquirer TransFirst Holdings Inc. for $2.35 billion, Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS announced Tuesday. The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, puts an end to TransFirst’s plans to explore an initial public offering. Hauppauge, N.Y.-based TransFirst last October filed an …
Read More »With an Improved Price Performance, Bitcoin Faces a Debate Over How to Grow
The Dow Jones Industrial Average has skidded about 8% since the end of 2015, putting a scare in investors and prompting talk of everything from a market correction to another recession. Unnoticed, however, is that the price of the digital currency Bitcoin has followed an almost identical path, dropping approximately …
Read More »Euronet’s HiFX Marks U.S., Canada International Funds Transfer Debut
Corporations and wealthy consumers have a new option when they need to move funds internationally. HiFX, a unit of Euronet Worldwide Inc., has begun offering its services to U.S. and Canadian clients. Acquired by Leawood, Kan.-based Euronet in 2014, U.K.-based HiFX enables users to transfer funds internationally in 28 currencies, …
Read More »Visa Tweaks a Deadline, but Proceeds With PCI Compliance Plan for Small Merchants
In response to pleas from merchant acquirers, Visa Inc. this month modified a deadline in its program to get small merchants into compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, a program the leading payment card network announced to acquirers in October. The change affects the usage of qualified integrators …
Read More »Focusing on Big Banks And Merchants, ACI Sells Its E-Banking Unit to Fiserv
Payments-technology provider ACI Worldwide Inc. said it plans to sell its Community Financial Services (CFS) unit to bank processor Fiserv Inc. for $200 million in cash. CFS, which provides online and mobile banking and payments and security services to community banks and credit unions, generated about 22% of ACI’s $1.02 …
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