A startup company led by the former head of a processor of automated clearing house transactions is readying a network that will allow consumers to use their driver's licenses to pay for goods at the point of sale. Boulder, Colo.-based Combined Payments Network LLC plans to formally unveil its product, …

Accelitec Inc., a Seattle-based company that last year launched a contactless-payment system aimed at merchants rather than banks, says it is preparing for expansion this year by smoothing integration with existing merchant networks. The company's PayPilot product is in beta with an unidentified merchant, and officials say they expect to …

The trend among independent sales organizations and other distributors to offer point-of-sale terminals to merchants at no nominal cost to them?the so-called free terminal trend–is building the case for POS software as an alternative to dedicated, standalone terminals, says the top executive at one company that specializes in PC-based transaction …

After rapid growth that has propelled it to the top of the ranking of U.S. ATM owners, Houston-based Cardtronics Inc. looks toward another year of major expansion in 2006, company officials tell Digital Transactions. In a story appearing in the January-February 2006 issue of the magazine, the company says it …

With Ed Labry this week taking over First Data Corp.'s acquiring business, including First Data Merchant Services, some industry observers are figuring the Denver-based processing giant may be looking toward spinning off both the merchant division and the lucrative Western Union franchise as independent companies some time within the next …

Nashville, Tenn.-based merchant processor iPayment Inc. has agreed to be acquired and taken private by two of the company's top executives in a deal valued at about $770 million. The company's board of directors, along with a special committee of that board established last spring to investigate possible offers for …

Projected pilots in 2006 for contactless payment capability on mobile phones with near-field communication (NFC) technology will include high-throughput retail stores, in contrast to the self-contained environment of a sports stadium, where the first such trial began last week (Digital Transactions News, Dec. 14). Tom Zalewski, head of mobile payment …

A tiny startup in Redmond, Wash., has signed up about 500 users for its week-old person-to-person payment service based on mobile phones and expects to launch a commercial service in 2006. With a head count of three, including two former Microsoft Corp. employees, TextPayMe Inc. allows individuals with cell phones …

The phishing scourge made a comeback in October, hitting a new record level after three straight months of decline. The number of reported, unique phishing e-mails came to 15,820, up 17% from the 13,562 reported in September, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of electronic payment companies, software …

A technology that allows consumers to use their debit cards and PINs to buy items on the Internet will likely undergo tests with at least one electronic funds transfer network starting the first half of 2006. A full commercial rollout involving at least one major merchant should be in progress …