The electronic-payments industry’s zig-zag movement toward faster transaction times may have received a jolt of new life on Monday with Fiserv Inc.’s announcement of its SpotPay mobile-acceptance service. The service, which at first glance appears to be the latest in a long line of products that let small businesses run …

Now that the Durbin Amendment’s debit card interchange caps have been in effect for nearly a year, enough time has passed for community banks and credit unions to start to determine the impact, if any, the price ceilings have had on their income. Based on conversations Digital Transactions News has …

Visa Inc.’s complicated new Fixed Acquirer Network Fee, or FANF, has caused considerable head scratching if not outright consternation for merchant acquirers, independent sales organizations, and merchants since it took effect in April. But, in addition to figuring out FANF’s mysteries, the acquiring industry needs to account for a new …

Online PIN debit provider Acculynk Inc. on Wednesday entered the acquiring business with its acquisition of PayLeap, a 4-year-old gateway provider and processor based in Warsaw, Ind. Terms of the deal, which has already closed, were not released. Up to now, Acculynk has worked chiefly with big acquirers to sign …

The financials looked good, but the Fates seemed to be spinning some entangling threads for VeriFone Systems Inc. during the leading point-of-sale terminal maker’s third fiscal quarter ended July 31. There was the challenge to VeriFone’s big win in Washington, D.C., where the company’s taxicab payment and media systems are …

There is a tendency in the payments business for startups to hinge their business plans on the notion that they are filling a yawning need that somehow none of the incumbents is able, or willing, to satisfy. In some way, this painfully obvious opportunity has escaped everyone’s notice, and now …

Jane Adler With a growing array of digital wallets, retailers are testing multiple strategies—all at once. When it comes to digital wallets, retailers are like kids in a candy store. Lots of sweet offerings are on display. But instead of picking a favorite, some merchants take one of each to …

Jim Daly Five years after its momentous leveraged buyout, has First Data transformed itself into a toned-up competitor while confined to what some might say is debtor’s prison? On Sept. 24, 2007, Wall Street’s legendary Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. took leading payment processor First Data Corp. private in a …

Born of the transformed world wrought by Durbin, Visa’s new acquirer fee is either a rational response to changed economics or a diabolical exercise of raw power, depending on whom you ask. By John Stewart Bruce Reisman is an angry man. “I’m not a happy camper. I’m constantly looking for …

With digital wallets from the likes of PayPal Inc., Google Inc., and the Isis consortium grabbing headlines, Visa Inc.’s V.me staff has been quiet but busy. The payment service is live with five online merchants, and Visa plans to introduce it as a commercial product by year’s end, a spokesperson …