The strong increases in online payment transactions noticed by merchant acquirers and others in November continued through the entire holiday shopping season, according to recently released data. Leading e-commerce acquirer Chase Paymentech reported on Thursday that its Cyber Holiday Pulse Index recorded nearly 360 million transactions valued at approximately $14.5 …

A Comeback for Credit Cards Online Thanks in part to debit card regulation, e-commerce shoppers in the next few years will reverse a recent trend away from credit, according to new research. General-purpose credit cards will capture 40% of online spending in 2011 and 2012, level with 2010, but that …

Gideon Samid  Gideon@AGSgo.com Last summer, at a Las Vegas conference, the normally tightlipped National Security Agency (NSA) made an unusual plea and admission. ÒElectrical engineers rely on physics, chemical engineers build on chemistry, physicians on biology, but what is the science that security professionals rely on?Ó asked Steve Borbash of …

Having established itself overseas, EMV appears to be coming to the States, with some issuers already pumping out chip cards. Despite high-profile enthusiasts like Wal-Mart and Home Depot, however, few merchants are on board. By Karen Epper Hoffman While the Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip card standard has garnered plenty of headlines …

Apple may be the most talked-about tech company that has yet to make a definitive move in payments. Is there any fire under the smoke? By Lauri Giesen When payments executives discuss the up-and-coming players in their industry, the names of high-tech companies such as Google, Intuit, Square, PayPal, and …

The surging popularity of the smart phone has revived the digital wallet, and now Google, Visa, AmEx, the wireless carriers, and a wide assortment of other providers are jockeying for dominance in this nascent business. By Peter Lucas Still trying to make sense of the digital-wallet landscape? You\'re not alone. …

Compliance has become the goal of PCI, rather than data protection and fraud reduction. It's high time that changed, says Mimi Hart. Occupy PCI. ItÕs time the 99% are heard. The Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI) is pernicious, collusive, and inane. ItÕs also ineffective for fraud reduction. Imagine youÕre …

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 …

Bowing to feedback from small-business users, Intuit Inc. this week added the capability of accepting credit and signature debit cards to its QuickBooks Online product. The new capability allows users to accept Visa and MasterCard cards in addition to the existing ability to accept bank-account transfers through the automated clearing …

Dwolla Corp. on Thursday unveiled a credit option it hopes will appeal to users who want faster funds availability for spot or impulse purchases. The option, known as “Instant,” is available now and allows users to borrow up to $500 that they can use right away rather than waiting two …