Visa U.S.A. today named John Philip Coghlan, 54, as its new president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. The former Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. executive succeeds long-time Visa chief Carl F. Pascarella, who announced last summer his intention to step down by September (Digital Transactions News, July 16, 2004). …

Consumers generally prefer PIN-based debit to signature debit, and are less frequently subjected by banks and merchants to fees for PIN-debit usage, according to a recent survey. At the same time, the number of banks offering rewards incentives to consumers for PIN-debit usage, already a small minority, is declining, says …

Little noticed until now, a small, privately held technology company on Long Island this week scored a major victory in a patent-infringement case that is sending shock waves throughout the electronic payments business, observers say. One direct result, they say, could be sharply higher costs for banks and third-party processors …

Mindful of the rapid spread of online frauds depending on phishing, The 41st Parameter Inc. plans next month to roll out a new version of its machine-authentication technology. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company is already piloting the new version of its software, called TimeDiff Linking, and last week filed for an …

PayPal Inc.'s new payment technology for small and medium-sized merchants, introduced last week (Digital Transactions News, June 20), is aimed at boosting the online payment processor's market share with these merchants both on auction sites and through their own Web sites, PayPal executives say. The San Jose, Calif.-based company, a …

Retail Decisions PLC says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued what it calls a “preliminary decision” that supports ReD's position in a patent dispute between the company and Mountain View, Calif.-based CyberSource Corp. U.K.-based ReD includes its U.S. unit, Retail Decisions U.S.A., Hazlet, N.J. The USPTO statement, which …

Declaring the need for litigation to bring credit card interchange rates under control, five small merchants today filed a class-action antitrust suit against Visa, MasterCard, and at least seven major banks. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, alleges the banks and their card …

The steady drumbeat of card-data breaches is a major factor causing rising anxiety among consumers who use the Internet for shopping and other financial transactions, the Conference Board reported today. In a quarterly survey of 10,000 households sponsored by the New York-based business organization, 13% of all online consumers say …

The major breach of credit card account data revealed over the weekend, the latest in a string of such incidents over the past six months, may lead to tougher enforcement of data-security standards by the card companies, experts say. The breach, which exposed cardholder names, account numbers, and card verification …

The introduction in Canada of a bank-sponsored commercial payment service allowing consumers to buy goods from e-commerce merchants with their PIN debit cards is sparking widespread interest among retailers, according to Moneris Solutions Corp., the first processor to handle transactions for Interac Online. Moneris has been processing Interac Online payments …