What Keeps ATM Execs up at Night?       Complying with new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and fighting fraudsters who put skimmers on their machines rank high on the to-do lists of ATM managers.   The findings come in a new report from Aite Group LLC …

  Jim Daly   Merchant acquirers are keeping a watchful eye on the bank card networks as the publicly held companies seemingly move onto turf acquirers regard as their own. Are acquirers’ fears about network ambitions justified?       Moving transactions from merchant locations to cardholder accounts and back …

  Linda Punch   Increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes show that personal identification numbers are more vulnerable than once thought. Bring in the reinforcements.       For the past 40 years, personal identification numbers have built an enviable reputation as a nearly inviolable security feature. They’re much more secure than …

  As manufacturers scramble to develop tablet computers to challenge Apple Inc.’s dominant iPad, findings from an electronic-commerce services firm suggest payments companies looking for new transaction volume through mobile devices would be smart to do everything they can to encourage consumers to buy things on the iPad and its …

At first glance, the nascent mobile-payments business doesn’t seem to be the major driver of Google Inc.’s $12.5 billion cash acquisition of cell-phone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. The deal, however, could spur payments using near-field communications (NFC) technology as software companies, phone manufacturers, and mobile-communications software companies jockey for …

  A technical gremlin has caused thousands of developers to be short-changed on payments they are due for applications they sell through Google Inc.’s online Android Market. The glitch, which developed some time in July, has created a mismatch between customers’ orders on Google Checkout, the Mountain View, Calif.-based Web …

  Keeping a Wary Eye on the Networks   Forget about Google and PayPal. Merchant acquirers are more worried about competitive threats from their long-time spouses by forced marriage, the payment card networks.   That intelligence comes from an Aite Group LLC survey of 20 industry executives, including 17 chief …

n by Steve Mott   While most observers have viewed Visa’s recent string of acquisitions as a mere broadening of its conventional card franchise, a long-time analyst of the payments business sees a clever play for dominance of the digital future.   Just when the U.S. payments industry appears poised …

  Purveyors of card-acceptance services for mobile phones  are booking merchants by the hundreds of thousands.  But many of these merchants present underwriting risks and generate little charge volume. Are they worth it?   By Jim Daly   Everyman a merchant? Thanks to smart phones and aggressive merchant processors such …

  Linda Punch   A product of its acquired Revolution Money program, Serve is American Express Co.’s entrant into the increasingly competitive mobile, online, and person-to-person payments market. Will it deliver?   When an industry heavyweight like American Express Co. throws its hat into the digital-payments ring, people sit up …