Transaction Processing

Qpass Inc. has announced it is the first processor to reach the $1 billion mark in premium digital content. The Seattle-based company, which produces billing software primarily for mobile carriers, says it hit the milestone Jan. 11 and has now exceeded 400 million paid downloads on its platform. While not …

Philip W. Tomlinson, chief executive of payment processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), played up his firm's strong fourth-quarter and 2005 financials and growth prospects today despite the pending loss of the huge Bank of America Corp. consumer credit card file. Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS reported fourth-quarter net income of $49.7 …

Deep discounts on interchange rates for Internet transactions authenticated through MasterCard International's SecureCode technology are taking effect just as the security system appears to be attracting more issuers and online merchants, according to a vendor of online authentication systems that supports both SecureCode and Visa USA's rival Verified by Visa …

The trend among independent sales organizations and other distributors to offer point-of-sale terminals to merchants at no nominal cost to them?the so-called free terminal trend–is building the case for POS software as an alternative to dedicated, standalone terminals, says the top executive at one company that specializes in PC-based transaction …

SVPCO, which operates an image-exchange network controlled by some of the nation's largest banks, said today it saw its image volume climb 33% last month to a new monthly high of 11.7 million items, allowing the new system to close its first full year having trafficked nearly 52 million items. …

With Ed Labry this week taking over First Data Corp.'s acquiring business, including First Data Merchant Services, some industry observers are figuring the Denver-based processing giant may be looking toward spinning off both the merchant division and the lucrative Western Union franchise as independent companies some time within the next …

BitPass Inc. has acquired rival micropayments processor Yaga Inc. in a deal that hands the Menlo, Calif.-based BitPass technology to support subscription and payment-aggregation models. The acquisition agreement, terms of which were not released, calls for BitPass to take over Yaga's platform, intellectual property, and client contracts. Staff at San …

Nashville, Tenn.-based merchant processor iPayment Inc. has agreed to be acquired and taken private by two of the company's top executives in a deal valued at about $770 million. The company's board of directors, along with a special committee of that board established last spring to investigate possible offers for …

A technology that allows consumers to use their debit cards and PINs to buy items on the Internet will likely undergo tests with at least one electronic funds transfer network starting the first half of 2006. A full commercial rollout involving at least one major merchant should be in progress …

BitPass Inc.'s agreement with Microsoft Corp. to process payments for digital content sold through regional sites operated by Microsoft's MSN portal may be just the start of a broader payments relationship with the Redmond, Wash. computing giant, says Douglas S. Knopper, BitPass's newly hired chief executive. Knopper, who joined Menlo …