A 5-year-old law that bans U.S. banks and processors from handling online-gambling transactions won’t stand in the way of a U.S. Justice Department opinion released last week that appears to put the federal government's imprimatur on intrastate online betting. The DoJ on Dec. 23 released a 13-page memorandum giving states …

  The data-breach Grinch is stealing Christmas from a big restaurant supplier and Lucky Supermarkets, a major West Coast grocery chain, both of whose payment card acceptance systems were compromised recently by fraudsters using different techniques. The breach at Queens, N.Y.-based Restaurant Depot LLC, which also does business under the …

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n By Jane Adler   Retailers and consumers are shifting from plastic to virtual gift cards, drawn by instant availability and ease of distribution. Is the tangible gift card on its way out?       With holiday sales in their sights, retailers are expanding their gift card offerings with …

  Frankly, a Level 4 validation mandate by industry leaders in the payments space would only cement in place a practice that already exists, but is not enforced uniformly.   We’ve had the PCI DSS for years, yet breaches continue to put small merchants out of business. The cause is …

If the best present for a merchant acquirer is more transactions to process, 2011’s Christmas has already arrived. Various reports from acquirers, payment processors, and research firms indicate that electronic transaction volumes are up sharply over 2010’s levels despite the gloom that still colors most economic news. Dallas-based Chase Paymentech, …

  n Online sales for the year will reach $309 billion, up 16% from $266 billion in 2010, according to the report. That volume will grow to $346 billion next year and $444 billion 2016, the report forecasts. General-purpose credit cards will capture 40% of online spending in 2011 and …

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  With the holiday season weeks away, more major retailers are now offering so-called virtual gift cards. But few make the experience of buying, sending, and redeeming the digital payment products easy or pleasant, according to a report issued this week. Some 59 of the 100 largest online merchants, ranked …

  So far, mobile-acceptance products for merchants have been limited to cards. Meanwhile, entrants in this market from outside the payments business tend to be long on tech but short on security. Both factors spell trouble, says Bill Clark.   The skyrocketing popularity of card-based mobile-payment solutions is certainly impressive, …