The bill continues to come due for the frenzy of orders online merchants processed over the holidays. While card-not-present transactions were up 16% for the holiday season compared to the same period in 2015, fraud attempts increased fully 31%, according to data released Tuesday by ACI Worldwide, a Naples, Fla.-based …

Marketing campaigns delivered to shoppers’ smart phones have long been seen as a promising way to drive both in-store traffic and mobile payments, and during the recent holiday season one company ran a test to find out just what kind of results retailers could expect. Swirl Networks Inc., a 6-year-old …

U.S. online retail spending through home and work desktop computers in the 2016 holiday season totaled $63.1 billion, up 12% from $56.4 billion in 2015, Internet metrics firm comScore Inc. reported Thursday. “The 2016 online holiday shopping season had another successful year, with desktop growth rates in line with our …

Consumers are making their shopping, and payments, preferences known this holiday season. They are spending 12% more on e-commerce purchases so far this shopping season than they did in 2015, reports comScore Inc. Consumers have made $49.3 billion in e-commerce purchases from Nov. 1 to Dec. 12 using a desktop computer at home …

Tougher security vetting by high-end luxury goods retailers has online fraudsters moving downscale to the still-profitable mid-price range, and crooks also are targeting refurbished consumer electronics, according to new findings from security technology firm Forter Inc. Forter, which has offices in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, Israel, this week released …

• In a study of more than 900,000 merchants, processor First Data Corp. says retail spending from Thanksgiving through CyberMonday (Nov. 28) grew 5.8% from year-earlier levels; brick-and-mortar retailers saw spending grow 4.1% while e-commerce spending jumped 14.3%. • European software firm Comtrade Digital Services has built an automated banking platform for the Viber messaging app, …

The National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend $27.5 billion on gift cards this holiday season, up 5.8% from $26 billion in 2015. The increase follows the 18% plunge last year from $31.7 billion in 2014, which was the highest gift card spending total in at least seven years on NRF surveys. …

Retailers can expect a bump up in the dollars consumers load on closed-loop gift cards this holiday season as a festive spirit takes hold and more merchants favor the cards over holiday discounts, according to a forecast released last month by payments consultancy Mercator Advisory Group. “Retailers are expecting that …

By Kevin Woodward@DTPaymentNews U.S. shoppers flooded into stores and online this past weekend—Macy’s Web site crashed on Black Friday from the crush—to find holiday gift deals, with many putting their chip cards to use, though e-commerce spending, where the fraud-prevention feature of the chip is immaterial, continues to increase. In …

• Gift cards were the most sought-after gifts among consumers queried for a survey about the upcoming holiday season and sponsored by the National Retail Federation; 61% of respondents reported wanting a gift card, followed by clothing and accessories, 54%; and books, CDs, DVDs or videos, 40%. • Merchant processor …