Might decoupled debit rise again? It very well could, according to some payments experts, and the light on the hill is the decoupled debit card issued by the battered and bruised discount retailer Target Corp. For nearly three months, Target has weathered a storm of bad publicity after confirming a …

Alternative payments? So many people are now using services such as PayPal, Amazon Payments, Google Wallet and others that the term is becoming outmoded. In a new report, Javelin Strategy & Research says eight in 10 online shoppers have used an online alternative payment service in the past year, and …

In the wake of high-profile retailer data breaches and mounting political pressure to address security flaws in the nation’s payment card system, Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. on Friday said they were forming a “cross-industry group” to enhance payment security. The leading card networks said in a joint news release …

  A new mobile wallet called CloudPay may undercut traditional payment processing fees that merchants typically pay. Announced earlier this week, CloudPay from New Media Insight Group Inc., a Phoenix-based company, says merchants pay only 0.5% per transaction, a markedly lower rate than traditional pricing that might be as high …

  PowaTag is a mobile commerce app that hopes to make it easier for consumers to buy with their smart phones. Launched this week, PowaTag identifies products using a smart phone’s camera and microphone to detect special cues embedded in print displays, television commercials or online using the PowaTag watermark. …

Given the massive news coverage about payment card security since December in the wake of Target Corp.’s huge data breach and other ones at Neiman Marcus Group and Michaels, you might think that data protection is top of mind among small-business owners. Not so, according to results of a new …

A recent study by First Annapolis Consulting Inc. found that 22 of the nation’s 30 largest debit card issuers are actively replacing cards in the wake of retailer Target Corp.’s massive data breach. Meanwhile, a suburban Chicago bank warned customers not to use their debit cards in Chicago taxicabs and …

AmEx Opts for Small Merchants No longer a card brand accepted mainly in hotels, restaurants, upscale stores, and on airlines, American Express Co. is stepping up its efforts to add small merchants to its acceptance base. AmEx late last year began testing a program called OptBlue that gives partner merchant …

Jim Daly Microsoft next month will cease support for its Windows XP operating system, which runs hundreds of thousands of ATMs. But many ATM deployers seem to have adopted a “what, me worry?” attitude. In the ATM world, April 8, 2014, could go down as April Fools’ Day a week …

Prepaid card program managers and issuers are moving beyond their original customer base and ramping up offerings, producing intense competition and falling prices. By Jane Adler Shopped at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. lately? A trip past the checkout lane reveals a robust array of new prepaid card offerings. For example, Wal-Mart’s …