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Every corporate merger presents risks to the companies involved and their owners, employees, and customers. Leading U.S.-based point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc.’s planned takeover of smaller rival Hypercom Corp. is no exception: a recent regulatory filing detailing VeriFone’s merger plans devotes 26 pages to a host of risks. Of …
Read More »TSYS Cements Strategic About-Face with Takeover of First National Merchant Solutions
Total System Services Inc. on Tuesday brought to an end a short-lived joint venture with First National Bank of Omaha by buying the 49% of FNBO unit First National Merchant Solutions LLC it didn’t already own. In the deal, TSYS paid FNBO $169.6 million for the remaining stake, implying a …
Read More »Consumers Open Wallets, Hike Spending 5.5% in Run-up to Christmas
Consumers brought holiday cheer back to merchants and payment processors in the run-up to Christmas this year, spending 5.5% more during the period than they did last year and giving signs that they are opening wallets and purses again after a long recession and rocky recovery. Especially noteworthy were sharp …
Read More »Durbin-Inspired Survey Gives a Rare Look into Debit Cards
No matter how you feel about the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed 7-to-12-cent cap on debit card interchange and plans for breaking up exclusive debit-network affiliations, the regulatory process has produced some previously unavailable measurements of the booming debit industry. Ahead of writing the proposed rules that it unveiled last week, …
Read More »Debit Interchange Would Get a 12-Cent Cap Under Fed Proposals
Debit card interchange fees would take a draconian cut under two proposals that the Federal Reserve Board floated on Thursday. Both would set caps of 12 cents per transaction, caps that would take most of the profit out of many transactions, especially signature debit. The board also left open the …
Read More »WikiLeaks’ Defenders Go on the Attack Against Payment Firms
Supporters of WikiLeaks attacked the Visa and MasterCard Web sites on Wednesday after the bank card networks cut off donation transactions to the controversial online anti-secrecy organization that recently disclosed hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. State Department cables. The attacks, which slowed down the networks’ Web sites or made …
Read More »Sales to Gas Stations Help Fuel Revenue Gains for VeriFone
Already big inside the convenience stores at thousands of gas stations, point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. is making headway at gas pumps. VeriFone on Thursday reported that petroleum-industry revenues grew 58% in its fourth fiscal 2010 quarter ended Oct. 31 over the year-earlier period. The strong petroleum results helped …
Read More »PayPal’s Opening Shots in a Scramble for T-Commerce
Having recently struck deals that will bring it to the physical point of sale, e-commerce processor PayPal Inc. has now branched into an entirely new market. Working with a television-technology specialist in Plano, Texas, PayPal has positioned itself to handle what promises to be a burgeoning flow of transactions from …
Read More »Holiday Season off to Strong Start for Online Merchants
Black Friday and Cyber Monday have ignited a promising start to the 2011 holiday spending season that appears to signal a revival in consumer spirits following a deep recession and wobbly recovery, according to a number of statistical indicators that have been released this week. Transactions on Monday at some …
Read More »Accertify Will Become Part of AmEx in $150 Million Deal
American Express Co. on Thursday announced it will pay approximately $150 million to buy a software startup in suburban Chicago whose product lets online merchants automate order screening for fraud. Founded in 2007, Accertify Inc. has built a client base that includes Barnes & Noble, Urban Outfitters, and 1800 Flowers …
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