Transaction Processing

Big debit card issuer TCF Financial Corp. might need to lay off more than 2,000 employees to offset potential revenue losses if the Federal Reserve Board’s most draconian debit interchange price-control proposal takes effect, TCF said in recent court filings. Wayzata, Minn.-based TCF also said that its annual revenue loss …

ATM network changes and legislation rank as the top worries of ATM independent sales organizations, while declining transaction volumes also keep many ATM ISO executives up at night, according to newly released survey results. Kahuna ATM Solutions, a Bloomington, Ill.-based ATM ISO that services smaller ISOs, commissioned the survey, which …

Continuing a chargeback-streamlining process that began back in 2004, Visa Inc. in April will no longer require card issuers to obtain signed paper documentation in disputes involving transactions the cardholder claims are fraudulent. Instead, issuers may submit the required documentation electronically. Visa is not mandating that issuers eliminate signed documentation, …

A small-business trade group and Canada’s leading merchant acquirer reached a deal on Thursday that seemingly ends a dispute that, had it continued on its original course, might have transformed Canada’s seemingly voluntary code of conduct for payments companies into a mandatory one. At issue was a Dec. 30 letter …

First Data Corp., one of the largest merchant processors in the country, said on Monday it will offer an Internet PIN debit option to its merchant clients starting some time in the second quarter. The option will be available to the company’s 300,000 merchants that derive at least some of …

A philosophical turn by the Federal Reserve Board, having to do with the definition of a “payment card network,” has already raised questions for PayPal Inc. and could have major implications for a wide range of other alternative-payment systems. “It’s a huge issue,” says Conrad Sheehan, chief executive of mPayy …

It’s bad for consumers and bad for the payments industry, but the Durbin Amendment that imminently will upend the U.S. debit card market still presents some opportunities for MasterCard Inc., according to the No. 2 payment network’s president and chief executive, Ajay Banga. Specifically, MasterCard could well pick up new …

After about four years of testing, the New York City area’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is beginning the process of building a fare-payment system based on general-purpose contactless cards. MTA officials tell Digital Transactions News that they plan to publish a so-called Concept of Operations, a document outlining the agency’s broad …

A freeze on approvals of mobile applications for card acceptance by merchants, announced in November by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), will likely be lifted some time before the end of the year. Top officials with the Wakefield, Mass.-based organization tell Digital Transactions News the Council is working …

Good news for online merchants: In 2010, for the second year in a row, fraud losses expressed as a percentage of revenue went down. They came to 0.9%, down about $600 million from 1.2% in 2009, according to the latest research from CyberSource Corp., a unit of Visa Inc. that …