Gideon Samid • Gideon@AGSgo.com       Yesterday’s visionaries shocked their audience by proclaiming a distant reality of “a phone in every home.” Today’s visionaries proclaim “a home in every phone.” And an office too, and with it your school, your movie theatre, your bank!   Computers, entertainment systems, …

  Barcodes for payments by smart phone have a proven track record and a diverse group of supporters, but many in the payments industry regard them as merely a way station on the road NFC-based mobile payments. Here’s where they stand today. By Jim Daly Sure, the techies and lots …

  The idea of managing ATMs through centralized, virtual systems is attracting adherents. But not all ATM makers are sold on it. By Lauri Giesen It seems the virtual world has touched nearly everyone these days, both in their professional and personal lives, with virtual games, social networks, and the …

n “The bankruptcy court in question agreed with our motion that the escrow account is for the consumer,” Trent Voigt, chief executive of JetPay LLC of Carrollton, Texas, told Digital Transactions News moments after a hearing ended in the case of Southern Sky Air & Tours LLC, doing business as …

The news leaked earlier this week, but PayPal confirmed on Thursday it has created a mobile-acceptance product to compete with the myriad such services already on the market from hardware and software companies, as well as merchant processors. Still, PayPal’s product, called PayPal Here, may stand out from the crowd …

Financial institutions have much to gain from fees and cost savings if they offer person-to-person payments and get it right, according to representatives of three leading P2P networks who spoke on a panel at a banking conference on Monday. The keys to getting this relatively nascent payment form right lie …

Backers of mobile-payments programs are more than ever relying on merchants to foot the cost of rewards and offers. But for merchants to buy in, the rules of the game have to change. By Jane Adler As the mobile-payments business gets off the ground and card issuers look for new …

Though aimed mainly at debit cards, the Durbin Amendment corrals prepaid cards in a number of ways, as well. Will the restrictions choke off growth in this thriving business? By Linda Punch When the Durbin Amend­ment passed, major financial institutions issuing prepaid cards thought they had dodged the proverbial bullet. …

It’s no wonder consumers are confused about debit cards these days, what with big banks discouraging use and merchants doing just the opposite. Influencing payments choices now calls for extra finesse, says Beth Robertson.   Javelin data shows that 70% of consumers believe that recent debit card regulations will actually …

Responding to pressure from retailers, the Internal Revenue Service this month announced that it would give merchants a pass on what merchants feared would be a new hassle when filling out their tax returns. The change will reduce the compliance burden on merchants, but it also could undercut the government’s …