Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
A growing emphasis by computer hackers on stealing payment card data from hotels and resorts and their increasingly sophisticated malicious software and attack methods are two highlights in a new report from security consulting and technology firm Trustwave Holdings Inc. Trustwave's Global Security Report 2010 summarizes findings from the Chicago-based …
Read More »Fiserv Sees An Opportunity in Filters for the ACH’s New IAT Code
As financial institutions find themselves processing more and more international transactions through a new application on the automated clearing house, the burden of sorting out payments that match various watch lists is mounting fast. That's creating an opportunity for processors and software vendors. One of the first to act is …
Read More »M&A Optimism Rises Even As NAB Stays Mum About Possible Sale
One of the nation's biggest independent sales organizations may be putting itself up for sale, indicating a possible thaw in an icy mergers-and-acquisition market for merchant processors. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Troy, Mich.-based North American Bancard has hired investment bank Deutsche Bank to advise it about a possible sale. …
Read More »On the Back Burner in Congress, Interchange Heats up in California
On the Back Burner in Congress, Interchange Heats up in California Proposed regulation of interchange is stalled in Congress, but California lawmakers are investigating the controversial revenue generator for credit and debit card issuers that merchants ultimately pay. It's not clear yet, however, whether the informational hearing held this week …
Read More »Study: Of All Breaches, Those Caused by Hacking Are the Costliest
The cost of data breaches rose slightly last year, but breaches resulting from computer hacking incurred by far the highest losses, according to a new report from privacy and data-security research firm Ponemon Institute LLC. The average cost per compromised customer record rose to $204 in 2009 from $202 in …
Read More »How Biller-Direct Payments Are Making Slow But Steady Gains
The biller-direct channel of paperless bill payment is growing faster than the so-called consolidator channel that consists largely of bank and credit-union Web sites, though not by much, a new report from Aite Group LLC says. The report also says average transaction sizes are increasing and that the biller-direct vendor …
Read More »Payment Volume, Platform Response Swell for an Upbeat PayPal
PayPal Inc. this week reported a vigorous response from developers to its new open platform and posted strong results in the fourth quarter. More than 12,000 software developers have signed up so far to use new application programming interfaces (APIs) PayPal introduced in November as part of an effort to …
Read More »Haiti Earthquake Puts Mobile Payments in the Spotlight
While a disaster of massive proportions, the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti nevertheless is boosting online giving and mobile payments in particular as U.S. donors seek the fastest way of putting their donations to work in the stricken country. As of 9 a.m. Eastern time Monday, more than 2 million …
Read More »Card Industry Has a Compelling Case for Data Encryption, Report Says
End-to-end encryption of cardholder account data during the transaction process is an imperfect solution to payment card fraud, but it's the most practical out there now for the U.S., a new report about fraud management from Aite Group LLC concludes. The report estimates that fraud cost the U.S. card industry …
Read More »Later This Year for Rules Clearing the Way for All-Digital Checks
A set of rules governing the exchange of a new type of all-digital check could be in place as early as late summer, allowing banks and vendors to begin work on offering a product that would work on mobile phones and would entirely do away with paper. That's if current …
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