Signs are pointing to fewer merchant-account bookings by independent sales organizations, and that's translating into fewer orders for VeriFone Holdings Inc., the largest U.S.-based point-of-sale terminal developer. Last week, VeriFone reduced its revenue projections for its fourth quarter ended Oct. 31 and fiscal 2008. In a conference call late last …

Often viewed by retail banking officials as public enemy No. 1, PayPal Inc. sent its top executive to a major banking-technology exhibition on Thursday to propose closer collaboration between banks and the San Jose, Calif.-based non-bank e-commerce payments processor. Indeed, PayPal president Scott Thompson suggested banks and PayPal create direct …

Nearly one-third of U.S. Bank customers who have been issued a contactless debit card have performed at least one contactless transaction since the bank's program began in June, an executive with the bank said on Wednesday. “So far, it's looking really promising,” Michael Shepard, group product manager for consumer credit …

In buying Chockstone Inc., a provider of gift card and loyalty services and technology for merchants, Heartland Payment Systems Inc. essentially is making a bet that merchants with loyal customers make more loyal clients for merchant acquirers. “That certainly is part of the thought process,” Heartland president and chief financial …

The PCI Security Standards Council on Monday introduced a quality-assurance program for the companies that determine whether a merchant, processor, or other entity that touches credit and debit card data meets the council's rules. The Wakefield, Mass.-based council's aim is to ensure more uniform enforcement of the Payment Card Industry …

In what it calls a first for a major oil company, the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc in January plans to offer a PIN-based consumer debit card that uses the automated clearing house network, gives consumers a discount on gas, and costs Shell's retail outlets 40 cents per …

Retail sales are slumping and stores are closing, but the online retailing channel?and thereby online payment transaction volumes?will come through relatively unscathed, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy and Research. Javelin's latest online retail payments forecast predicts Internet retail purchases will total $148 billion this year, up 10.4% …

North American Bancard, one of the nation's biggest independent sales organizations, has established a new division it hopes will help merchants navigate tricky technological waters beyond payment processing, thereby increasing merchant loyalty. Troy, Mich.-based North American says the purpose of its new Alliance Division is to forge relationships with software …

The electronic-payments industry can expect the well-established consumer shift away from credit cards and toward debit and prepaid cards to continue in today's turbulent economic climate, but other changes are afoot as the financial landscape rapidly changes, according to Maynard, Mass-based Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Some of the most significant …

A slumping economy appears to have been what scuttled First Data Corp.’s deal to buy prepaid card program manager InComm Corp. The agreement, announced in April (Digital Transactions News, April 29), involved transaction-processing giant First Data acquiring Atlanta-based InComm for $980 million, with a further payout of $250 million over …