News

October, 2013

• 16 October

  Merchants Cite “Don’t Know” as the Most Common Acquirer Name: Survey

    Ideally, merchants that use payment card acceptance services would know which merchant acquirers they work with. But in a recent report from research firm Aite Group LLC, the most common response when merchants were asked to name their acquirers was “Don’t know.” Of the 491 U.S. merchants surveyed for …
• 15 October

  Dwolla Ends Support for Virtual Currency Bitcoin

  By Kevin Woodward Person-to-person and mobile payments company Dwolla Corp. is ending support for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies effective Oct. 28, Dwolla announced on Friday. Less than 0.1% of Dwolla’s merchants use virtual currencies, Des Moines, Iowa-based Dwolla says in a statement. “Dwolla has notified the few affected merchants …
• 15 October

  Decoupled Debit Scheme Pulls Up at the VeriFone Fuel Pump

  Consumers this fall will be able to use their smart phones to pay for fuel at certain gas stations that use VeriFone Systems Inc. technology and offer National Payment Card Association’s mobile-payment app, VeriFone announced Monday. Point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone says convenience store and gas station operators using its Smart …
• 15 October

  Square Gets Into the Person-to-Person Payments Arena With its New Square Cash

  By Jim Daly In a move that apparently signals its intention to become a more diversified financial-services provider, Square Inc. on Tuesday introduced a person-to-person payments service called Square Cash. The service, which works through email or mobile apps, has no fees for either the sender or recipient and only …
• 10 October

  New Technology Entrants Capture ISO and Acquirer Attention at Regional Conference

    Recurring revenue from transaction-processing fees has been a staple of independent sales organizations and acquirers for decades. But amid a host of new competitors, the payment-processing industry finds itself wondering what its next steps may be. ISOs are squeezed on one side by large players, like First Data Corp. …
• 10 October

  Clover Looks to App Market, First Data’s Backing to Set It Apart in Crowded Tablet Field

  Clover Network Inc., which on Wednesday burst into a crowded market for tablet-based point-of-sale systems, is betting that merchants would like to choose their apps for customer service and checkout in the same way they can load apps on their smart phones. With the new Clover Station, merchants can download …
• 9 October

  New York Case Raises Questions About the Future of States’ Bans on Credit Card Surcharges

  By Jim Daly An injunction that puts New York State’s ban on merchants’ credit card surcharges on hold could be a prelude to a bigger legal assault on states’ surcharge restrictions. If pro-surcharging merchants prevail, their actions could add some oomph to a provision in the pending settlement of unrelated …
• 9 October

  Retailer Beyond the Rack Signs Up for the MasterPass Online Wallet

    Online retailer Beyond the Rack is among the latest retailers to accept MasterCard Inc.’s MasterPass digital wallet service on its e-commerce site, the card brand recently announced. Beyond the Rack is a members-only online retailer that sells apparel and accessories. MasterPass is a wallet platform enables mobile payments by …
• 8 October

  Isis’s Abbott Takes the Wraps off New App As Wallet Nears National Rollout

  The carrier-controlled Isis mobile-payments system on Monday unveiled a new version of its application and predicted that about 30 million mobile phones will support the near-field-communication-based product by the end of 2014. Speaking at an industry trade show in Las Vegas, Michael Abbott, Isis’s chief executive, demonstrated the new mobile …
• 8 October

  A More Inclusive American Express Paints Its Serve Prepaid Card Program Blue

  Taking a cue from its Bluebird prepaid card for customers of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., American Express Co. today relaunched its Serve prepaid card with new features, more reload locations, and new retailer partners along with no reload fees at 14,000 7-Eleven and CVS/pharmacy locations, and a $1 monthly fee that …