Despite some poor fourth-quarter financials, shares of First Data Corp. rose nearly 7% this morning after the big transaction processor announced plans to spin off its fast-growing and biggest subsidiary, Western Union, to First Data shareholders. Denver-based First Data also ended speculation that it might sell its lackluster Card Issuing …

Writeoffs stemming from transactions on prepaid cards, which had been swelling at online merchant ShopNBC, have eased considerably in the past few months, the retailer reports. Bad debt attributable to the plastic accounted for 3% of total writeoffs for 2005 at ShopNBC, which sells jewelry and electronic gear online at …

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 …

An Omaha, Neb.-based maker of biometrically secured identity cards says it expects to participate in contactless-payment pilots within three months, with a commercial rollout possible by mid-2006. Five-year-old Digital Defense Group says its credit-card-size token, which contains a fingerprint sensor and an RFID chip, is compliant with MasterCard International's PayPass …

The new chief executive of First Data Corp. is likely to bring renewed focus to the processing giant's merchant-acquiring business and move quickly to resolve the drag on growth represented by the company's processing business that supports card issuers, say industry observers. At the same time, Henry C. (Ric) Duques, …

Fraudsters sent out fewer phishing e-mail campaigns in September, but they operated from more Web sites, launched several opportunistic campaigns?including ones designed to steal donations intended for Hurricane Katrina victims?and became even more inventive in their use of keyloggers and other malware. The number of unique phishing reports received by …

Whether they like it or not, billers are accepting more credit and signature-based debit card transactions on their Web sites?at the expense of the share of less costly bill payments cleared through the automated clearing house. So-called biller-direct sites?Web sites set up by financial institutions, utility companies, telecommunications carriers and …

Quick-service outlets and e-commerce, both emerging channels for electronic transactions, grew at double-digit rates in activity on Visa USA credit and debit cards in the week ending Nov. 6, according to a report the card association released today. In the run-up to the critical holiday spending season, fast-food transactions jumped …

Biometric-payments processor Pay By Touch Solutions' plans to use CardSystems Solutions Inc.'s processing platform and reseller relationships to help market its point-of-sale authentication system to merchants may hit a few snags, in the view of a leading competitor. BioPay LLC, a Herndon, Va.-based processor that like Pay By Touch authenticates …

Merchants have a long road ahead of them in securing the consumer transaction data they house in their databases, if a survey released this week is any indication. Fewer than half of retailers surveyed have a formal plan in place to handle database intrusions, and of those that do, only …