Could Peppercoin Inc., a processor of micropayment transactions both online and in card-present venues, be eyeing opportunities in the hot market for contactless payments? Though he refuses to comment on whether the company has any such plans, Mark Friedman, the Waltham, Mass.-based company's chief executive, he has clearly watched developments …

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is extending its rollout of contactless payment technology to the populous northeast corridor of the country. Its Chase Bank U.S.A. N.A. said today it will begin sending new cards equipped with chips and tiny radio transmitters to some 2.9 million cardholders this week. In addition, about …

Widespread publicity surrounding the huge data breach at CardSystems Solutions Inc., coupled with a movement among the states to require disclosure of data compromises, is driving business for companies specializing in data security. “Consumers are up in arms about enterprises not taking security seriously enough,” says Karim Toubba, vice president …

More than two-thirds of treasury professionals within businesses that sell to consumers favor capping card interchange fees, according to a survey released today by the Association for Financial Professionals. Moreover, nearly three-quarters of these executives would trade rewards programs for lower interchange rates, even if their own companies lost incentives. …

In a statement released today, Retail Decisions PLC confirmed it is seeking to buy an unnamed company “whose key activities are complementary to those of ReD.” In confirming what it called a “market rumor” about a pending transaction, the U.K.-based transaction processor and Internet payments gateway, which operates a U.S. …

Despite the vaunted efficiencies of electronic transactions, at least one regional supermarket chain has found its cost to accept PIN debit transactions is running close to its acceptance costs for paper checks. As a result, says Bryan Croteau, senior business analyst for Hannaford Bros. Co., Portland, Me.,”I don't want to …

Reporting rapid growth for its payment service and rising interest in a new marketing and finance platform it rolled out last month, I4 Commerce Inc. says it will begin next year expanding into new payment channels, with debit and stored-value ranking as distinct possibilities. The company will end the year …

Having gotten its feet wet with song downloads, PayPal Inc. is marching full-bore into micropayments. The San Jose, Calif.-based payments processor announced today new, cut-rate merchant pricing on transactions under $2 for digital content, which the company defines as video games, online greeting cards, news articles, and mobile-phone content such …

Citigroup Inc. plans to roll out 2.5 million key fobs for contactless debit card payment following a launch of the technology this fall in the New York area, the banking giant announced today. The so-called tap-and-go transaction devices will fit on consumer's keychains, and will be based on MasterCard International's …

Consumers are willing to engage in more e-commerce if banks, auction sites, and other Web-based service providers offer strong authentication, particularly that based on hardware devices, to protect against fraud, a survey shows. Almost half of consumers surveyed said they would be more or much more likely to switch to …