Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
• Payments veteran Michael J. Schwartz was appointed interim chief executive of mobile-payments and -marketing firm Spindle Inc. upon founding chief executive Bill Clark’s resignation. Schwartz comes to the company from Fiserv Inc. Clark had been CEO since 2011. • Processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) purchased the 45% stake …
June, 2016
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12 June
Citing ‘Unacceptably High’ Fees, Wal-Mart To Stop Accepting Visa Cards in Canada
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s 400-store Canadian unit announced Saturday that it will no longer accept Visa payment cards in its stores beginning with phased discontinuance starting July 18. “Following an evaluation of credit card transaction fees in Canada and the rest of the world, we have concluded the fees applied to …
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10 June
A Deal With Shell Boosts Chase Pay, But the Challenge of Consumer Usage Remains
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is lining up the necessary elements for its Chase Pay mobile service. The bank announced Thursday that more than 14,000 Shell Oil Co. locations potentially could accept the nascent mobile wallet. Chase shared few details, such as when Chase Pay might be accepted at Shell stations, …
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10 June
Cardtronics Secures More CTA Locations and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• ATM deployer Cardtronics Inc. reached a new agreement with the Chicago Transit Authority under which it will place almost 40 new ATMs at CTA passenger stations, replacing machines already at those stations, and install more machines at additional stations. The move, which expands on an agreement reached with the …
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9 June
Did a May Meeting With Durbin Staffers Prompt Visa to Back off on Its New Fee?
The payments industry may never know for sure what prompted Visa Inc. to back off on a potentially lucrative new fee aimed at issuers planning to defect to other networks. But a clue to the decision emerged Wednesday when U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin’s office issued a statement celebrating the move …
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9 June
After Tussling With Visa, Durbin Challenges MasterCard Over an Issuer Fee
U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin on Thursday asked MasterCard Inc. to explain an obscure fee with a clunky name that the senator believes penalizes MasterCard issuers when merchants exercise their transaction-routing rights under the Durbin Amendment with MasterCard debit card purchases. But MasterCard says issuers benefit whenever its cards are used, …
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8 June
How Account Takeovers Complicate the Battle to Control Fraud on Mobile Wallets
Issuers contending with payment card fraud will have to factor in mobile wallets, especially as the battle to thwart account takeovers intensifies. A majority of issuers—56%—said they cannot further reduce account takeovers without hurting the customer experience, according to a card-issuer fraud study released recently by LexisNexis Risk Solutions and …
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7 June
Following Its Decision to Put off a Rollout, MCX to Shut Down Its CurrentC Pilot on June 28
When the Merchant Customer Exchange LLC announced last month it is postponing a rollout of its CurrentC pilot in Columbus, Ohio, observers suspected the news did not bode well for the merchant-controlled mobile wallet. On Monday, those suspicions were confirmed as MCX told CurrentC account holders in an email that …
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7 June
The CFPB Sues Processor Intercept Corp. and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• A bill by U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, to replace 2010’s Dodd-Frank Act” would hurt consumers and Main Street businesses,” the Merchants Payments Coalition said, because the measure would do away with the financial reform law’s Durbin Amendment that regulates debit card interchange and sets debit card transaction-routing requirements. …
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7 June
Durbin’s Latest Salvo Challenges a New Visa Fee, But Visa Says It Has Dropped It
Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., the author of the fee-capping Durbin Amendment, is well-known as a champion of merchants, but now he’s taking up the cause of small banks and credit unions. Durbin on Tuesday sent a letter to Visa Inc. chief executive Charles Scharf asking for information about a new …