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The Federal Reserve Banks should adapt the automated clearing house network to compete directly with private-sector networks for debit card processing, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said this week. “The Federal Reserve could enhance competition in payment card markets by positioning ACH services as an …
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The Senate Mulls Easing Discounts for Non-Credit Card Payments
Payment card acceptance costs have been swept into the furious Congressional debate about credit card interest rates, fees, and terms. Late Thursday afternoon, a proposal was pending in the U.S. Senate that would give merchants greater leeway to offer customers discounts if they use cash, checks, or debit cards versus …
Read More »Survey: Banks’ Post-Breach Reissuance Increasingly Costly
Many banks are reflexively reissuing debit cards in the wake of a breach, possibly stopping fraud losses but sustaining huge reissuance costs and eroding customers' trust. That's according to survey research released this week. “[Breaches] occur all the time, and don't show any signs of going away,” says Paul Henninger, …
Read More »How Washington’s Credit Card Fray Could Hammer Acquirers
The White House is scheduled to dress down credit card issuers this week. That and current and possible bills in Congress increase the chances of new regulations on merchant acquirers, according to a lobbyist for the Electronic Transactions Association trade group of independent sales organizations and other merchant processors. Congress …
Read More »Test Yields Upbeat Results for Bling Nation’s On-Us Platform
Bling Nation Ltd. on Wednesday said it has completed a 10-day test of its alternative-payment platform, known as the Community Payment Service. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company also said it plans to continue testing its system preparatory to a rollout. Bling Nation's platform creates closed-loop transaction networks linking local merchants …
Read More »Tempo Plans Some Noise for a Quiet Decoupled Debit Card Market
The market for decoupled debit cards, which has been eerily silent for about a year, may soon be making waves again. An executive with Tempo Payments Inc., a non-bank processor with the only network-branded product on the market currently, said this week the company plans to launch a new product …
Read More »New Mobile App Books And Pays for Taxi Rides in 27 Metro Areas
RideCharge Inc., a software vendor specializing in the taxicab market, is getting more mileage on its booking and payment application as the popularity of mobile phones grows. The Alexandria, Va.-based firm most recently added the largest cab company in Boston, the 200-plus vehicle fleet of Boston Metro Cab, to its …
Read More »FIS’s Metavante Acquisition To Create a Processing Powerhouse
Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) will buy Metavante Technologies Inc. in a $2.94 billion all-stock deal announced on Wednesday. The acquisition will create a bank- and payments-processing giant with $5 billion in combined revenue and a vast array of products in everything from core banking services to credit, debit, …
Read More »There’s No Bill, But the Interchange War Heats up in D.C. All the Same
An interchange battle is raging this week in Washington D.C., even though there is no interchange bill pending in Congress. Some merchants, however, hope that will change soon and are pushing their agenda with an advertising campaign that includes a YouTube video and advertising designed to influence new members of …
Read More »Sale of Fifth Third Processing Biggest Such Deal in More Than a Year
In the biggest sale of a merchant acquirer in more than a year, private-equity firm Advent International Corp. will take a 51% stake in Fifth Third Processing Solutions through a deal announced today with the big processor's parent company, Fifth Third Bancorp. Boston-based Advent will pay $561 million in cash …
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