Some 49% of debit card holders would either stop using their cards or use them less often if their issuers slapped a $1-to-$2 monthly fee on their checking accounts in return for unlimited usage, and another 25% would close their accounts altogether, according to consumer research released this week. …

Cash: the merchant’s friend or foe? Two of the nation’s largest merchants on Thursday expressed surprisingly favorable views about the ancient payment method while an executive with the Chicago Transit Authority, the nation’s second-largest public-transportation system, wished it would go away as soon as possible. The comments came during the …

  After taking a nasty hit in the recession, credit cards are back on their feet, though somewhat wobbly. Figures from First Data Corp., the largest U.S merchant processor, show that credit card usage is sustaining growth after returning to positive territory in early 2010. Data from the bank card …

Accertify Inc. this week announced a service aimed at automating most of the functions merchants must follow to contest a chargeback, regardless of the payment method used for the original transaction. The Accertify Chargeback Service has begun a beta test with two unnamed clients and will be commercially available by …

Banks are abandoning their dreams of ATMs generating profits and instead returning to their original focus of using the machines for customer service, according to new findings from First Annapolis Consulting Inc. Linthicum, Md.-based First Annapolis spoke with executives from the nation’s 10 largest banks by assets about their ATM …

Payvment Inc., a San Francisco startup whose shopping-cart software has been enabling transactions for storefronts on Facebook for the past six months, plans to use $1.5 million in new funding to add engineers and expand its network beyond the massive social network. Christian Taylor, the company’s chief executive, tells Digital …

The cashless vending machine payment market is about to get more competitive. Apriva Inc., a specialist in wireless payment technology, this week introduced its Apriva Vend system. With it, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Apriva is throwing its hat into a ring dominated by USA Technologies Inc., which says it welcomes the new …

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 …

With merchant acquirers on the lookout for new ways to manage and motivate sales agents in a difficult economy, processor United Bank Card has launched a program for independent sales organizations that furnishes qualified merchant leads and also sets up appointments with those merchants. The new program specifically supports an …

Banks aiming to improve customer service should accelerate their move away from old ATMs and the IBM operating system that ran them for years, according to conclusions in a new Aite Group LLC study of banks' ATM channels. While the transition from IBM Corp.'s old OS/2 operating system to Microsoft …