The dream of a digital currency, a form of money invented just for electronic transactions and just as anonymous as cash in the physical world, is at least as old as the original concept of the Mondex smart card 10 years ago. Next came Cybercash, Digicash, Beenz, Flooz, and others. …

A survey released today at a conference on micropayments reveals the extent to which Americans are willing to buy content from Web sites at prices measured in the pennies. Extrapolations from the survey show that 4 million Americans made micropayments for digital content costing $2 and under in the past …

A system that allows card payments to be made at vending machines, laundry machines, kiosks, and unattended business centers is expected to expand rapidly now that the technology provider has partnered with two wireless service providers. Malvern, Pa.-based USA Technologies, which specializes in card-accepting technology for the hospitality industry and …

Creating and moving check images across banking networks now that President Bush has signed the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act into law is likely to cost banks a great deal of money–but most are likely to find it worth their while. Popularly known as Check 21, the law …

Expect more big banks to follow Wells Fargo & Co. and Wachovia Corp. in switching their debit processing business from Concord EFS to Visa, according to an industry analyst. John Gould, director of consumer credit research for TowerGroup, a payments research company, says in the process of moving their debit-processing …

The rising number of online content providers is provoking a steady stream of startups looking to facilitate payment of small fees for everything from ringtones to comics to newsletter items and songs. One of the latest is Palo Alto, Calif.-based Bitpass, which is in it the beta stage of attracting …

While First Data Corp. vows to contest action by the Department of Justice to stop its acquisition of Concord EFS, industry observers say the Denver-based processing giant may have good reason to fight for a stronger position in the market for debit transactions secured by personal identification numbers. The $7.3 …

The movement from paper-based to electronic payment is happening even faster than the Federal Reserve expected, and as a result the central bank is cutting its estimate of check volume while raising its check-processing fees. Effective Jan. 2, the Fed's fees for check services will go up by a blended …

Arguing that the transaction would stifle competition in the market for transactions secured with personal identification numbers, the Department of Justice filed suit today to stop a proposed $7.3 billion acquisition of Concord EFS by First Data Corp. Officials of Justice's antitrust division argued that the merger would weaken competition …

MasterCard is evaluating the next step for its contactless payment program following the conclusion of its PayPass test using a chip-based card in Orlando and as it nears the conclusion of a test involving the use of cell phones as a payment device in Dallas. The card company is expected …