Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By John Stewart A new service from Square Inc. that accelerates merchants’ access to their funds in return for a 1% fee is likely to gain popularity among the small sellers that primarily use Square for transaction processing, according to some observers. That may hand Square a key advantage in …
Read More »With Global Potential Rising for Carrier Billing, Boku Acquires mobileview Italia
By Kevin Woodward San Francisco-based carrier-billing specialist Boku Inc. has bought mobile-payments provider mobileview Italia, Boku announced Thursday. The deal means Boku will provide carrier billing to more than 87 million mobile-carrier subscribers in Italy. Globally, Boku says its service, which enables consumers to make digital purchases using their wireless …
Read More »Samsung Pay Sets U.S. Debut for Sept. 28, With a One-Month Trial Starting Aug. 25
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. says its Samsung Pay mobile-payment service, which uses near-field communication and a radio-frequency version of magnetic-stripe data, will debut Sept. 28 in the United States. Some consumers with some Samsung smart-phone and tablet models will be able to participate in a test set to begin Aug. …
Read More »Infinite Peripherals Rides the mPOS Wave With Add-on Devices for Larger Retailers
By John Stewart At Infinite Peripherals Inc., there’s nothing peripheral about the mobile point of sale. The Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based company, whose stock in trade is not the mobile device but just about anything that can be connected to it, is growing rapidly in tandem with the soaring popularity …
Read More »Checkout Startup SelfPay Eyes Expansion With Outside Funding Injection
By Kevin Woodward With more $1 million (Canadian) in new funding, self-checkout app SelfPay looks to expand its reach within retail stores. Toronto-based Digital Retail Apps says the funding, which is approximately $764,402 in U.S. currency, also will be used to secure more patents. Dallas-based Texas Ventures led the funding, …
Read More »COMMENTARY: A Five-Point Checklist for Merchants Trying To Beat the EMV Clock
Credit card fraud in the United States is at epidemic levels. Last year, the U.S. accounted for more fraud than the rest of the world combined. And the fraud rates are accelerating. EMV technology, which has shown to greatly reduce in-store fraud in Europe, is finally being rolled out in the …
Read More »DTN Readers Are More Skeptical Than Experts on Benefits of First Data IPO
By John Stewart When First Data Corp. last month formally let the world know it intends to make an initial public offering of stock, the massive processor said it plans to use the IPO’s proceeds to reduce its big debt load. Some experts said this could free up capital so …
Read More »Apple Pay Could Reap a Volume Bonanza as It Includes AmEx Corporate Cards
Corporate card stalwart American Express Co. says corporate cards it issues on behalf of U.S. employers now can be used with Apple Pay. AmEx says its portfolio is the first major corporate card file to be activated for Apple Inc.’s mobile-payment service. Apple Pay’s potential for additional spend with corporate …
Read More »PIN-Debit Interchange Drops for Issuers Exempt from Durbin Rate Cap
Issuers are generating less in interchange for PIN and signature debit card transactions than they were 10 years ago, according to the Pulse electronic funds transfer network’s 2015 Debit Issuer Study released Thursday. The study examined transactions made in 2014 from more than 70 debit issuers involving 147 million debit …
Read More »It May Be POS Alphabet Soup, But It’s Getting Easier for ISVs To Assume ISO Functions
By John Stewart With the business of selling merchant accounts growing more technology-based every day, how are processors going to recruit new independent sales organizations that have the necessary expertise? For at least some processors, the answer lies in inducing independent software vendors, known as ISVs, to become ISOs as …
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