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 …

  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 …

  n The 5 basis points added by the Fed to the 21-cent cap is intended to capture some of the fraud losses issuers sustain, the central bank said in a staff memo released on Wednesday summarizing the final rule. The final rule also allows, on an interim basis, a …

  n In the merger, Fundtech shareholders will receive 2.72 shares of S1 common stock for each Fundtech share, leaving S1 shareholders with a 55% stake in the combined entity. The new company will be rechristened Fundtech Corp. and will be based at S1’s headquarters in Atlanta. Reuven BenMenachem, chief …

With final debit card regulations at hand that will end exclusive partnerships between payment networks and debit card issuers, the head of Discover Financial Services says his company has added capacity to its Pulse electronic funds transfer network to handle anticipated new business. n Nelms was responding to a question …

While the payments industry awaits stringent new rules concerning debit card transactions, some processors and technology players are starting to exploit what they see as opportunities in the new regulations. Acculynk Inc., for example, released last week a statement calling on Internet merchants to sign up now for online PIN …

  n That’s the gist of a June 8 letter purportedly from Visa Inc. chairman and chief executive Joseph W. Saunders to U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., a copy of which was obtained by Digital Transactions News. On June 8, an amendment to delay Durbin’s provisions for further study …

  n Merchant processors, banks, and independent sales organizations that process transactions for merchants with annual sales of less than $10 million—the vast majority of U.S. retailers—have added on a wide array of fees in recent years for items ranging from statements to monthly minimums to chargeback processing and authorizations. …

The U.S. Department of Justice filed court documents Tuesday that move toward completion its challenge of Visa and MasterCard network rules limiting merchants’ ability to steer customer payments toward their preferred forms. Tuesday’s action is largely procedural as Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. announced settlements when the DoJ and seven …

Defenders of the debit card interchange status quo saw their last, best hope to delay draconian Federal Reserve regulations from taking effect go down to defeat Wednesday afternoon. An amendment in the U.S. Senate that would have delayed the Fed’s rules died on a 54-45 vote, six shy of the …