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Prepaid card program manager NetSpend Holdings Inc. beefed up its retail distribution channels through a new agreement announced on Wednesday with leading convenience-store chain 7-Eleven Inc. The news came just a day after NetSpend rival Green Dot Corp. revealed that it bought assets from eCommLink Inc. that will advance its …
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Holiday Post-Mortems Show Healthy Volume Gains, Sagging Average Tickets, Shift to Debit
The post mortems on the holiday shopping season are arriving from major processors, and the emerging picture appears to be one of strong consumer spending but drooping average tickets online, in physical stores, and on merchant-branded gift cards. At least one report also found a switch in consumer preferences in …
Read More »Though Zappos Case Gets ’12 off to Gloomy Start, Number of Card Records Breached Fell in 2011
Despite a seemingly non-stop parade of headlines about data breaches last year, the number of credit and debit card records compromised actually fell, according to new figures from the Identity Theft Resource Center. The ITRC says it identified 111 data breaches that exposed 3.38 million records in 2011. n In …
Read More »Intuit Plants GoPayment’s Flag in Canada and Upgrades Its Card Reader
Intuit Inc. plans to export its GoPayment service to Canada in the next few months, beating out rival Square Inc. as both companies prepare for international expansion of their smart-phone-based payment services aimed at the smallest of merchants. Intuit also is rolling out a new card reader for mobile devices, …
Read More »Home Depot Is a Good Start for PayPal’s POS Ambitions, But Much Work Likely Remains
PayPal Inc.’s pilot in five Home Depot stores, which the payments processor announced on Friday, represents the start of a major push by PayPal to the point of sale at major merchants. But allowing for a completely new payment method in a physical store, in this case one that has …
Read More »Gimlet Eye: 225 Million Users Are Hard to Ignore
We plead guilty this month to adding fuel to the fire of speculation surrounding Apple Inc.'s plans–if any–for moving into electronic payments. There are several reasons our story starting on page 22 deals with widespread industry speculation about whatÕs going on behind those closed doors in Cupertino. First, what Apple …
Read More »Trends & Tactics
A Comeback for Credit Cards Online Thanks in part to debit card regulation, e-commerce shoppers in the next few years will reverse a recent trend away from credit, according to new research. General-purpose credit cards will capture 40% of online spending in 2011 and 2012, level with 2010, but that …
Read More »Acquiring: The Chip Card’s Acceptance Quandary
Having established itself overseas, EMV appears to be coming to the States, with some issuers already pumping out chip cards. Despite high-profile enthusiasts like Wal-Mart and Home Depot, however, few merchants are on board. By Karen Epper Hoffman While the Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip card standard has garnered plenty of headlines …
Read More »E-Commerce: NFC Isn’t Just a Brick-and-Mortar Thing
Typically thought of as a mobile technology for physical merchants, NFC could soon be converting card-not-present transactions into card-present payments for e-commerce retailers. That prospect has important implications for processors and developers. By Bill Pittman Every e-commerce retailer would like to reduce its cost of payments, slash its fraud, and …
Read More »Strategies: A Rumor a Day
Apple may be the most talked-about tech company that has yet to make a definitive move in payments. Is there any fire under the smoke? By Lauri Giesen When payments executives discuss the up-and-coming players in their industry, the names of high-tech companies such as Google, Intuit, Square, PayPal, and …
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