Total charge volume on Discover Financial Services’s networks fell 5% in the first quarter thanks to a 15% drop at the Discover-owned Pulse electronic funds transfer network. But U.S. Bancorp, which owns the big merchant acquirer Elavon, says its merchant-processing revenue increased 4% due to higher transaction volumes and sales …
Read More »Eye on Acquiring: Cayan’s New Terminal for Small Merchants; VeriFone-Revel Integration
Merchant processor Cayan on Monday unveiled a new point-of-sale system for small and mid-sized businesses that want high-tech capabilities without the costs and hassles of managing integrated POS systems like those used by national retailers. Global POS terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc., meanwhile, announced the integration of its Verifone Point …
Read More »Trunk Show Event Marks a First for Amazon Payments in a Store
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. has taken another step to broadening the reach of its payments service with the debut Friday of an in-store payment service at a New York apparel retailer. This marks the first time Amazon payments has enabled in-store payments with a merchant, Amazon says. Just a couple …
Read More »Following Real-Time Bill Pay, TCH Sees a Follow-Up With Speedier B2B, B2C Payments
When The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC enlisted processor Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) last fall to help it launch real-time payments in the United States, it wasn’t ready to say when the system would go live. On Monday, TCH answered that question and also cleared up what types …
Read More »NACHA Reports a Banner 2015, With Stepped-up Growth And New Applications
The automated clearing house network reported stepped-up transaction volume with each set of quarterly statistics it released last year, and on Thursday it confirmed officially that 2015 was a banner year for growth. The payments network, which connects virtually every financial institution in the country, handled more than 24 billion …
Read More »Eye on Litigation: LevelUp’s Patent Fight; New York AG Targets Northern Leasing
Mobile payment and marketing provider LevelUp is continuing its fight against a rival over an alleged patent infringement and the New York Attorney General has filed suit against Northern Leasing Systems Inc. alleging deceptive business practices. In 2015, Boston-based LevelUp’s parent company, SCVNGR Inc., filed suit in U.S. District Court …
Read More »Choice Is the Operative Word in Bill Payments, Fiserv Survey Finds
Consumers increasingly want choice in bill payments, according to findings from a new study by Fiserv Inc. The bank and payment processor’s Eighth Annual Billing Household Survey found that the average number of payment methods consumers use monthly rose from 2.9 in 2014 to 3.6 in 2015, a 24% increase. …
Read More »Wow! FICO Reports a 546% Increase in ATM Compromises From 2014 to 2015
A migration of sorts appears to be under way among criminals targeting electronic payments as evidence surfaces that ATMs, especially those not owned by banks, are being targeted. In 2015, there was a 546% increase in ATM compromises, says Fair Isaac Corp., the company known as FICO. Based on data …
Read More »Rash of Breaches Bedevils Merchants With a Fast-Rising Rate of Fraud, Lexis-Nexis Finds
Retailers are contending with a markedly higher level of fraud this year than they did in 2015, with the fraud rate increasing from 1.32% of revenue to 1.47%, finds the 2016 LexisNexis True Cost of Fraud study. Last year marked the first time the rate was greater than 1%. When …
Read More »iPayment Selects Apriva for Mobile POS Service Targeting Smaller Businesses
Merchant processor iPayment Inc. announced Monday it will offer a white-label version of Apriva’s AprivaPay Plus to small and mid-size merchants. Dubbed iPayment MobilePay, the mobile point-of-sale service uses AprivaPay Plus, mPOS software developed by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Apriva. Merchants can use the service with iOS, Android, or Amazon Fire mobile …
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