Getting an annual assessment to determine their compliance with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard costs big merchants an average of $225,000, but some pay $500,000 or more and others much less, according to a new research report by Ponemon Institute LLC. The report also says that only about 2% …

An electronic bill-payment and ?presentment network put together by NACHA, the governing body of the automated clearing house, is seeking an organization that can help build out the system and give it marketing firepower. Rob Unger, senior director of e-billing and payments at Herndon, Va.-based NACHA, says the association issued …

As financial institutions find themselves processing more and more international transactions through a new application on the automated clearing house, the burden of sorting out payments that match various watch lists is mounting fast. That's creating an opportunity for processors and software vendors. One of the first to act is …

VeriFone Holdings Inc.'s PAYware Mobile mobile-payments initiative includes not just the previously announced card swipe for Apple Inc.'s iPhone and an iPhone app, but also a marketing campaign that aims to make the payment terminal maker's brand name more familiar with consumers, especially consumers that run small businesses. San Jose, …

The cost of data breaches rose slightly last year, but breaches resulting from computer hacking incurred by far the highest losses, according to a new report from privacy and data-security research firm Ponemon Institute LLC. The average cost per compromised customer record rose to $204 in 2009 from $202 in …

The growth of online commerce in recent years has given rise to a number of payments-related trade groups, not to mention the PCI Security Standards Council, the oversight body of the Payment Card Industry data-security standard. Now a new one has come onto the scene, one is dedicated to furthering …

The choices available for merchants eyeing mobile commerce expanded this week when wireless-payment technology provider Apriva Inc. unveiled two applications that turn smart phones into mobile-payment terminals. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Apriva is differentiating itself in the booming m-commerce marketplace by claiming space as a full-service software and services provider for merchants …

While a disaster of massive proportions, the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti nevertheless is boosting online giving and mobile payments in particular as U.S. donors seek the fastest way of putting their donations to work in the stricken country. As of 9 a.m. Eastern time Monday, more than 2 million …

While electronic payment methods continue to gain ground against paper-based payments, consumers show widely varying attitudes toward specific types of electronic methods, according to a recently released report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The paper, which the Boston Fed published last month and is based on a representative …

MasterCard Inc. is changing a controversial policy, and pushing back a deadline, that it announced only six months ago regarding enforcement of the Payment Card Industry data-security standard. With the changes, which involve assessing computer systems for PCI compliance, MasterCard could be viewed as responding to valid complaints after first …