By Lauri Giesen PayPal, followed by Visa and MasterCard, have thrown open their networks to outside developers, sparking a geyser of payments innovation while slicing R&D costs. Why didn’t they do this a long time ago? You’ve heard of open platforms. Well, now they’re coming to the payments business—and with …

First Data Corp., one of the largest merchant processors in the country, said on Monday it will offer an Internet PIN debit option to its merchant clients starting some time in the second quarter. The option will be available to the company’s 300,000 merchants that derive at least some of …

It’s bad for consumers and bad for the payments industry, but the Durbin Amendment that imminently will upend the U.S. debit card market still presents some opportunities for MasterCard Inc., according to the No. 2 payment network’s president and chief executive, Ajay Banga. Specifically, MasterCard could well pick up new …

With much of the country buried in snow and ice on Wednesday, Visa Inc. released transaction and charge-volume numbers that likely warmed the predilections of electronic-payments watchers. The leading card network reported U.S. credit and debit card payments volume of $493 billion for its first quarter of fiscal 2011 ended …

Trends & Tactics Android’s Edge in the Smart-Phone Skirmish The splashy news in smart phones last month was Verizon Wireless’s announcement that it will start marketing the iPhone, breaking AT&T Mobility’s long-held exclusivity on Apple Inc.’s popular device. But there was quieter mobile news that will be of greater consequence …

The Western Union Co. is stepping up its presence in the general-purpose reloadable prepaid card market with a new agreement to offer its MoneyWise Prepaid Card at InComm retail locations throughout the U.S. InComm, a marketer, processor, and distributor of stored-valued gift and prepaid cards, has partnerships with more than …

Good news for online merchants: In 2010, for the second year in a row, fraud losses expressed as a percentage of revenue went down. They came to 0.9%, down about $600 million from 1.2% in 2009, according to the latest research from CyberSource Corp., a unit of Visa Inc. that …

Following through on a tax-season initiative it announced last September, the U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday launched a pilot program that could enable more than half a million low- and moderate-income individuals to receive tax refunds via prepaid cards. Next week, the Treasury Department will begin sending letters to 600,000 …

In an apparent effort to calm its smaller debit card issuers, Visa Inc. says it will develop a two-tier interchange schedule, one with regulated rates arising from the Dodd-Frank financial-reform law and the other with unregulated rates applicable to banks and credit unions with fewer than $10 billion in assets. …

Rewriting the Transaction Routing Rules The Durbin Amendment throws out exclusive debit network agreements and gives merchants more freedom to route debit transactions according to their wishes. Who will win and lose in the post-Durbin world? BY JIM DALY By the time you read this, the Federal Reserve Board will …