Transaction Processing

North American Bancard, one of the nation's biggest independent sales organizations, has established a new division it hopes will help merchants navigate tricky technological waters beyond payment processing, thereby increasing merchant loyalty. Troy, Mich.-based North American says the purpose of its new Alliance Division is to forge relationships with software …

With its $50-million acquisition of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based software house Infonox Inc., TSYS Inc. has become one of a handful of transaction processors that are in the early stages of overhauling and upgrading their acquiring operations to support what many experts view as a coming explosion of volume as new payment …

A slumping economy appears to have been what scuttled First Data Corp.’s deal to buy prepaid card program manager InComm Corp. The agreement, announced in April (Digital Transactions News, April 29), involved transaction-processing giant First Data acquiring Atlanta-based InComm for $980 million, with a further payout of $250 million over …

Like the other payment card networks that recently reported their quarterly financials, MasterCard Inc. saw softening volumes in the third quarter. Things worsened in October but, like bank card rival Visa Inc., MasterCard's debit business is holding up much better than credit in what MasterCard president and chief executive Robert …

Banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. and processor First Data Corp. said on Monday they have completed the previously announced split-up of their joint venture called Chase Paymentech Solutions, the world's largest merchant acquirer. The bank-owned Chase Paymentech will focus on alternative payments and geographic expansion with its 51% share …

With the exception of the new back-office conversion application, or BOC, growth rates for the automated clearing house's electronic-check codes for transactions originating with paper checks declined in the third quarter. Those numbers might indicate one-time or seasonal blips, especially with the weakening economy, but they could also show that …

Merchant acquirers and independent sales organizations took a hit in Congress this year when a reporting provision passed, but other legal threats?along with possible opportunities?await next year. That's the word from payments executives and lawyers who stay abreast of Washington affairs and who spoke at an ISO conference Wednesday in …

Agents with independent sales organizations or even large merchant processors trying to sell prospective merchants on new point-of-sale technology can get the attention of decision makers, but only if they anticipate how a smart merchant will make a complex buying decision, a senior executive with the nation's largest restaurant chain …

The Western Union Co. has found out that worsening economic conditions in the United States can take a toll on seemingly sure-fire high-growth products like electronic bill payments. Western Union's third-quarter earnings report out on Tuesday shows that consumer-to-business, or bill-pay, revenues and operating income are down 2% and 10% …

With the economy losing steam, American Express Co.'s lucrative merchant business is slowing down. U.S. card-billed business grew only 4% to $120.3 billion in the third quarter from $115.2 billion a year earlier, and many of the other numbers related to AmEx's U.S. merchant-acquiring business showed little growth. AmEx's core …