Frankly, a Level 4 validation mandate by industry leaders in the payments space would only cement in place a practice that already exists, but is not enforced uniformly.   We’ve had the PCI DSS for years, yet breaches continue to put small merchants out of business. The cause is …

  For banks, the e-payments business has become an oasis of stability and growth at a time of financial turmoil. But the threat of non-bank entrants, together with inflexible legacy payments systems, could undermine the business just when banks need it most, warns Louis Blatt.   The pressure of maintaining …

  By Peter Lucas   Spam e-mail may be a constant irritant to consumers, but it’s big business for merchant acquirers willing to settle transactions resulting from those unsolicited ads. Can anything be done to stop it?       Every day some unsuspecting consumer receives an unsolicited e-mail from …

  So far, mobile-acceptance products for merchants have been limited to cards. Meanwhile, entrants in this market from outside the payments business tend to be long on tech but short on security. Both factors spell trouble, says Bill Clark.   The skyrocketing popularity of card-based mobile-payment solutions is certainly impressive, …

  If domestic online merchants were to adopt payment alternatives similar to those of their competitors in other countries, they could realize as much as a 60% increase in their business.   Rapidly expanding economies overseas represent a rich opportunity for domestic online merchants. Too bad these merchants aren’t equipped …

  Altering consumer behavior for a complete move away from the payment card is realistically years and years in the future.   Far from getting in the way of chip-and-PIN card adoption in the U.S. market, mobile payments at the point of sale will actually help pave the way for …

  Take into consideration that, in today’s global e-marketplace, credit cards alone are no longer enough.   Getting consumers to part with their money online these days requires careful thought about checkout-page design and payment options, says Paul Bridgewater.   Paul Bridgewater is vice president of world payments for Digital …

Supposedly mature North America lately is sporting growth rates befitting a green-field market for leading point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. VeriFone, which is moving ahead with plans to buy rival Hypercom Corp., late Tuesday reported that North American revenues increased 43% in its first fiscal 2011 quarter ended Jan. …

It’s bad for consumers and bad for the payments industry, but the Durbin Amendment that imminently will upend the U.S. debit card market still presents some opportunities for MasterCard Inc., according to the No. 2 payment network’s president and chief executive, Ajay Banga. Specifically, MasterCard could well pick up new …

Already big inside the convenience stores at thousands of gas stations, point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. is making headway at gas pumps. VeriFone on Thursday reported that petroleum-industry revenues grew 58% in its fourth fiscal 2010 quarter ended Oct. 31 over the year-earlier period. The strong petroleum results helped …