Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Every corporate merger presents risks to the companies involved and their owners, employees, and customers. Leading U.S.-based point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc.’s planned takeover of smaller rival Hypercom Corp. is no exception: a recent regulatory filing detailing VeriFone’s merger plans devotes 26 pages to a host of risks. Of …
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TSYS Cements Strategic About-Face with Takeover of First National Merchant Solutions
Total System Services Inc. on Tuesday brought to an end a short-lived joint venture with First National Bank of Omaha by buying the 49% of FNBO unit First National Merchant Solutions LLC it didn’t already own. In the deal, TSYS paid FNBO $169.6 million for the remaining stake, implying a …
Read More »Rewriting the Transaction Routing Rules
Rewriting the Transaction Routing Rules The Durbin Amendment throws out exclusive debit network agreements and gives merchants more freedom to route debit transactions according to their wishes. Who will win and lose in the post-Durbin world? BY JIM DALY By the time you read this, the Federal Reserve Board will …
Read More »What’s Holding up the Mobile Point of Sale?
Endpoint What’s Holding up the Mobile Point of Sale? As powerful as the technology is, mobile-payment acceptance won’t go very far until solution providers start giving businesses the choices they’re looking for in hardware and processing platforms, says Bill Clark. One likely cause for this slow growth rate is merchants’ …
Read More »The Forgotten Ones
The Gimlet Eye The Forgotten Ones No doubt everyone is still digesting the debit card interchange proposals that the Federal Reserve Board released on Dec. 16. These rules, which represent the first-ever government regulation of payment card interchange, are the result of a years-long tug-of-war between merchants on one end …
Read More »An End to the Great Data-Storage Debate
Security An End to the Great Data-Storage DebatePeter Lucas Weaning merchants from their ingrained practice of storing payment card data won’t be easy, but security experts conclude it must be done. Meanwhile, encryption technology, though growing in popularity, is not invulnerable. Having survived database breaches at high-profile retailers and merchant …
Read More »Sharp Comments Flow into Fed in Wake of Interchange Proposals
The comments are flowing in to the Federal Reserve Board in the wake of the board’s controversial proposals to set a 12-cent cap on debit card interchange, ban exclusive network agreements on debit cards, and give merchants more freedom to direct the routing of debit transactions. To a large degree, …
Read More »Durbin-Inspired Survey Gives a Rare Look into Debit Cards
No matter how you feel about the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed 7-to-12-cent cap on debit card interchange and plans for breaking up exclusive debit-network affiliations, the regulatory process has produced some previously unavailable measurements of the booming debit industry. Ahead of writing the proposed rules that it unveiled last week, …
Read More »Debit Interchange Would Get a 12-Cent Cap Under Fed Proposals
Debit card interchange fees would take a draconian cut under two proposals that the Federal Reserve Board floated on Thursday. Both would set caps of 12 cents per transaction, caps that would take most of the profit out of many transactions, especially signature debit. The board also left open the …
Read More »Regulators Accept Visa Europe’s Promise of Big Debit Interchange Cuts
Ominous or joyous interchange news, depending on your perspective, just rolled in from Europe. The European Commission, the antitrust authority in European Union nations, on Dec. 8 accepted Visa Europe’s proposal to reduce debit card interchange by up to 60% in nine countries. The EC’s action, while having no legal …
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