By Karen Epper Hoffman   Disbursing government benefits via prepaid cards has become an increasingly popular outlet for public agencies seeking operational efficiency and banks hoping to find new avenues to revenue and client retention.       For the beneficiaries of government benefits, “getting carded” is arguably a …

n By Jane Adler   Retailers and consumers are shifting from plastic to virtual gift cards, drawn by instant availability and ease of distribution. Is the tangible gift card on its way out?       With holiday sales in their sights, retailers are expanding their gift card offerings with …

The prepaid card industry is marching to new frontiers as November heads toward a close. Intuit Inc. on Tuesday is expected to launch a prepaid Visa card for new merchants in its GoPayment smart-phone-based service, and the Federal Reserve Board approved prepaid card program manager Green Dot Corp.’s plan to …

  n As with Chase’s previous two EMV deployments, the new Visa card will allow cardholders to sign for transactions rather than enter a PIN, which is a far more common form of authentication for EMV in markets like Europe and Canada where the smart card technology has been rolled …

  n At a conference call with analysts to discuss the No. 2 payment card network’s third-quarter earnings, MasterCard president and chief executive Ajay Banga said his company is offering select merchants and merchant acquirers incentives to direct debit card transactions MasterCard’s way. “We are in a completely different competitive …

  The Concentrated World of ISOs   Reps from more than 1,200 independent sales organizations pound Main Streets, malls, and strip shopping centers in search of merchants interested in payment-processing services. That number suggests a wide-open industry, but a new study of ISOs sheds light on just how few players …

  By Lauri Giesen   The Durbin Amendment will disrupt merchant acquirers’ long-standing pricing strategies, at least temporarily. How long will the profit-padding opportunities created by Durbin last?       When retailers and their trade associations rallied in support of the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act last year, …

  By Peter Lucas   With transactions leveling off, independent ATM networks are gearing up to offer a host of new services aimed at the unbanked and the offers-obsessed.       Increasing ATM transaction volume is a tall order these days. Growth in total transaction volume has slowed to …

  What with the Durbin Amendment taking effect and serious moves in mobile payments, many observers had the feeling that the pace of change in e-payments quickened in 2011. But along with faster change come more problems. Herewith some of the most salient.   By Jim Daly and John Stewart …

  By Karen Epper Hoffman   A technique that allows consumers to capture card information with PC or mobile-phone cameras could make for faster, more secure transactions. Is anything wrong with this picture?       A picture may be worth a thousand words, but is a picture also the …