The payments industry’s long struggle to bring person-to-person payments to a mass market reached a new milestone in recent days with the addition of real-time settlement. Under an agreement announced late last week, the NYCE Payments Network LLC will offer CashEdge Inc.’s Popmoney person-to-person payments service to its financial-institution clients, …

Trends & Tactics Android’s Edge in the Smart-Phone Skirmish The splashy news in smart phones last month was Verizon Wireless’s announcement that it will start marketing the iPhone, breaking AT&T Mobility’s long-held exclusivity on Apple Inc.’s popular device. But there was quieter mobile news that will be of greater consequence …

The War on Attrition Jane Adler High attrition rates are likely to continue as the economy finds its footing and competition among acquirers for merchants remains fierce. After being rocked by recession and weak recovery for several years, merchant acquirers may have felt like they turned the corner in December …

With regulatory problems overshadowing its main issuing partner, prepaid card program manager NetSpend Holdings Inc. says it is optimistic that it will be able to form partnerships with other issuing banks. n NetSpend is looking at proposals from a number of regional and national banks to provide sponsorship services, chief …

Merchant acquirer Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC is also a sizable closed-loop gift card processor, and now it’s about to get into the processing of open-loop prepaid cards through its acquisition of bankrupt Springbok Services Inc.’s technology platform. The acquisition follows closely on the heels of Fifth Third Processing’s announcement …

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 …

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 …

With the growing popularity of prepaid cards and other stored-value devices over the past few years, law-enforcement agencies and regulators have voiced concerns that payment devices intended for consumer convenience could become tools for money launderers, terrorists, and other illicit players. To address those concerns, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial …

It’s social payments, person-to-person payments, and micropayments all in one. And it’s sweet too. That’s the essence of a new electronic-gift service dubbed “eGift Social” that payment processor First Data Corp. launched recently with ice cream purveyor Cold Stone Creamery as its first client. Cold Stone, a unit of Scottsdale, …

Driven by growth in government programs, corporate payroll cards, and health care, the network-branded prepaid card sector can expect its U.S. load volume to nearly quadruple from an estimated $120.2 billion last year to more than $440 billion in 2017, according to research commissioned by MasterCard Inc. The study, by …