Facing strong competition from up-and-coming open-loop prepaid cards and maturity in some of its subcategories, closed-loop prepaid cards still managed to grow 7.1% last year, according to a new study from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator estimates load volume on closed-loop cards, which are issued by or for …

While Apple Inc.’s iPhone remains the iconic smart phone for mobile payments, some recent research reveals that the Android platform produced by rival Silicon Valley denizen Google Inc. is mounting a serious challenge in shipments and usage of the mobile Web. In a development with importance to e-commerce merchants and …

With its acquisition of mobile-terminal maker Way Systems Inc., VeriFone Systems Inc. picked up a small, struggling company facing plenty of competition in the market for mobile point-of-sale hardware and services. But the San Jose, Calif.-based terminal kingpin also bolstered a linchpin strategy in its efforts to diversify beyond POS …

Powered in part by surging government programs, open-loop prepaid cards barreled along in 2009, according to new findings from Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Now the question is whether that growth will continue after new payment card regulations kick in some time next year. Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator estimates users loaded $124.6 …

First gift cards went virtual, and now they’re going mobile. Portland, Ore.-based Giftango Corp. introduced on Wednesday a software developer’s toolkit that mobile developers can use to let users receive gift cards while staying within a mobile application. Giftango, which manages both plastic and virtual gift cards for merchants and …

First Data Corp.’s Star Network introduced on Wednesday technology that represents the first effort by a U.S. electronic funds transfer network to adopt contactless transactions. The technology, which Star calls CertiFlash, will use chips embedded in PIN debit cards to communicate with point-of-sale readers and to generate one-time account numbers …

Recognizing that sloppy payment-processing software installations can lead to data breaches, Visa Inc. on Tuesday issued what it calls the top 10 best practices for secure software management. Visa is aiming the guidance mostly at third-party software vendors, integrators, value-added resellers (VARs), and others that sell or license card-processing applications …

Proximity payments using mobile phones and micro Secure Digital (SD) cards took an important step toward commercial reality in the U.S. market with the news that Bank of America Corp. will start a pilot next month in the New York area. While the news is of yet another pilot at …

Merchant processing is one of the bright stars in U.S. Bancorp’s firmament, and Mike Passilla, the new boss of the Minneapolis-based banking firm’s Elavon merchant-acquiring subsidiary, aims to keep payments shining. Passilla on Monday became president and chief executive of Atlanta-based Elavon, which serves 1.2 million merchants in North America …

While the payment card industry is bracing for debit card interchange and other regulations that will come next year from the Federal Reserve as a result of the new financial-reform law, merchant acquirers on Monday got a long-anticipated reporting rule. Beginning with the 2011 tax year, acquirers must report how …