This is the fourth installment of a six-part series exploring the impact of Web 2.0 on the payments business. Previous articles have dealt with the transition from the first generation of eCommerce to the emerging world of social networks and highly personalized interactions utilizing Web 2.0 technology. Consumers will be …

This is the second installment of a six-part series on how Web 2.0 developments are likely to transform the payments business. Web 2.0 is still in its infancy, and skeptics about its business models abound. Meanwhile, most online merchants are still scrambling to shore up and extend their current Web …

It started not even a week ago, but a pilot program in which Boston-area commuters can pay for parking by mobile phone appears to be a hit with riders, according to early anecdotal feedback. “The buzz has been huge with customers, we've only been deployed for four days,” Ian Larrabee, …

With its $50-million acquisition of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based software house Infonox Inc., TSYS Inc. has become one of a handful of transaction processors that are in the early stages of overhauling and upgrading their acquiring operations to support what many experts view as a coming explosion of volume as new payment …

No. 4 payment card network Discover Financial Services will receive $2.75 billion from Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. through the settlement of a long-running antitrust lawsuit, Discover and the bank card networks announced yesterday. Discover, however, may actually pocket less than one-third of that amount after paying taxes and a …

With the economy losing steam, American Express Co.'s lucrative merchant business is slowing down. U.S. card-billed business grew only 4% to $120.3 billion in the third quarter from $115.2 billion a year earlier, and many of the other numbers related to AmEx's U.S. merchant-acquiring business showed little growth. AmEx's core …

When eBay Inc. announced its all-electronic payments policy last month, the move triggered what an eBay executive calls a “mixed” response, at best, from the online marketplace's sprawling seller community. But the policy changes go beyond banning checks and money orders on eBay. They include requirements that will force third-party …

In the 18 months since NACHA introduced an electronic payment method that lets merchants convert bundles of checks in a central location, it's become clear that the method?known as back-office conversion (BOC)?isn't likely to have a big impact on retailers' paper-check volumes. That's according to Bob Meara, a senior analyst …

A big change may be in the offing for Canada's point-of-sale debit market that could bring American-style percentage-based interchange to a system whose pricing currently is based on flat fees. The change could possibly even bring Visa and MasterCard debit cards to the country for the first time. The result, …

ATM surcharges often make the news when they hit a sensitive threshold such as $3, but the flip side of the story is the growth of options banks and credit unions offer customers to avoid paying the fees. According to newly released results from the Pulse electronic funds transfer network's …