Nashville, Tenn.-based independent sales organization iPayment Inc. expects on Wednesday to close on its $55 million cash acquisition of an agent-bank portfolio from First Data Corp. The portfolio consists of 18,000 small merchant accounts controlled by 170 agent banks and generating about $4 billion in annual card volume. First Data …

The market for ultra-low-ticket song downloads from online music stores continues to heat up. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has launched a service on its Web-based operation, Walmart.com USA LLC, that offers single songs for 88 cents, or 11 cents cheaper than what has become the 99-cent standard price for songs available …

Yahoo Finance, whose PayDirect person-to-person payment service has been in operation domestically for three years, is now offering PayDirect International to allow electronic remittances from domestic users to recipients overseas. Announced this week, the new international payment service is an effort by Yahoo Finance, a unit of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo …

First Data Corp. will not need to seek the approval of its shareholders for the revised terms announced Monday under which it will acquire Concord EFS Inc. First Data announced today it has been informed by the New York Stock Exchange that the NYSE will not require the Denver-based processor …

It may be cold outside throughout much of the country, but Bank of America says customers are starting to warm up to online banking in a big way. The Charlotte, N.C.-based banking company announced its online banking service has reached 7 million subscribers, making the bank the first financial-services company …

Airlines are taking advantage of the onset of one of the year's heaviest travel seasons to promote their electronic self-service check-in and ticketing machines. Both American Airlines and America West today released statements touting their airport kiosks and encouraging customers to use them in the coming days to avoid long …

A major study on consumer payment preferences at the point of sale released today shows not only a stronger trend toward debit cards generally but also a stronger preference for cards secured by personal identification numbers rather than by signatures. This is despite strong promotion from the major card companies …

First Data Corp. and the Department of Justice this morning announced an agreement in which the government now gives the green light to FDC's acquisition of Concord EFS Inc. and in which the Denver-based processing giant agrees to sell its majority stake in the NYCE debit network. First Data now …

With its new interchange rates for its check cards, Visa USA Inc. says it is moving on a broad front to boost volume on signature-based debit, encourage usage at fast-food and other venues that have not historically accepted the card, and meet the needs of members and merchants generally. “We're …

Visa USA Inc.'s newly announced interchange pricing for its signature-based, or offline, debit cards are only the starting point for what will be many rounds of negotiations with larger regional and national retailers, say industry observers. Meanwhile, despite the new rate announcement from Visa, MasterCard International Inc. says it is …