Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
A breach Jan. 4 at Bitcoin exchange Bitstamp resulted in the loss of approximately $5.2 million worth of the digital currency and caused the exchange to shut down while it sorts out the after-effects. That’s according to notes posted to Bitstamp’s Web site Monday and Tuesday. The breach targeted one …
Read More »Rash of Chain Breaches Casts Spotlight on Unique Vulnerabilities of Franchised Businesses
News of a possible card-data breach at chicken-sandwich chain Chick-fil-A caps a year that saw a number of franchised businesses compromised and throws into relief what some experts say is the unique security vulnerability of the franchise business model. Franchised chains, in which so-called owner-operators run stores under a license …
Read More »Google Becomes Latest Major Player to Sue Card Networks After Settlement Opt-Out
Two days before Christmas, Google Inc. quietly filed a federal lawsuit against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., alleging the card networks violated antitrust law by setting “supracompetitive” interchange rates from 2004 to 2012. The unusually sparse, three-page suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, asks …
Read More »Retail Groups Blast ‘Inaccuracies’ And ‘Misrepresentations’ in ICBA Release
Retailer organizations are lambasting an Independent Community Bankers of America survey that blamed retailers for breach costs that totaled $90 million at The Home Depot Inc. this year. In a letter to the ICBA and bearing Monday’s date, the chief executives of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, National Retail Federation, …
Read More »Payments Exec Tom Wimsett in Gateway Deal With Private-Equity Firm
Former National Processing Co. chief executive Tom Wimsett, now head of consulting firm Wimsett & Co. LLC, has teamed up with private-equity firm Thompson Street Capital Partners to buy EchoSat Communication, a payment-gateway company. EchoSat, based in Lexington, Ky., targets petroleum marketers and convenience stores. According to EchoSat’s Web …
Read More »Short MoneyCard Contract Extension With Wal-Mart Casts a Shadow Over Green Dot
Green Dot Corp.’s stock fell 8% Tuesday morning after the prepaid card services provider reported Monday that it had extended its agreement with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to issue and manage the Walmart MoneyCard only until Dec. 31, 2015. In the view of investors, the short extension of a five-year agreement …
Read More »U.S. E-Commerce To Approach $500 Billion by 2018, but Physical Stores Will Remain Open
Americans will spend nearly half a trillion dollars on e-commerce in 2018, with 70% of the U.S. population making online purchases, but e-commerce still will not account for even 9% of total retail sales, according to a new global forecast from research firm eMarketer Inc. In contrast, e-commerce will capture …
Read More »Bitcoin Enjoys Steady Growth, But Experts Ask Where the Case Is for Consumer Use
Since 2012, investors have poured $407 million into Bitcoin startups, with three-quarters of that sum flowing into the cryptocurrency just this year, according to figures compiled by CoinDesk, a Bitcoin newsletter. But now at least one expert is expressing doubts that these investors will see much of a return—if any—on …
Read More »MasterCard Expands Its Outreach to Software Developers With a Global ‘Hackathon’
MasterCard Inc. opened up its payment network to third-party software developers in 2012 and since then has participated in a number of regional “hackathons” in which developers create applications that link to MasterCard network services. Now MasterCard is expanding its footprint in the developer space by sponsoring what it calls …
Read More »Anti-Fraud Costs Add up Fast, But Are Unknown to Most Merchants, Survey Finds
Fraud-prevention efforts typically intensify during the holiday-shopping season, but many marketers don’t know what those efforts cost them, finds a survey from 41st Parameter, a data-technology company owned by Experian plc. In a survey of 250 marketers, 60% said they were unsure about the cost of fraud prevention to …
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