News

April, 2006

• 26 April

  A BankAmericard Redux Poses Risks But Could Reap Rewards for BofA

  The possibility that Bank of America Corp. could start its own payment card network and brand poses some big risks and would bring big expenses for the Charlotte, N.C.-based banking giant, though it could enable BofA to differentiate itself in a mature card industry, analysts say. Reports that BofA chairman, …
• 25 April

  PCI’s POS Costs Slow Retailer Adoption, Terminal Exec Says

  Reluctance by merchants and independent sales organizations to assume the added costs of compliant terminals is contributing to the apparently slow rate at which retailers are adopting the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, an executive with a major terminal maker says. According to recent data from Visa USA, one of …
• 24 April

  AmEx Discount Revenues Grow, but Rate Continues To Slip

  Boosted by higher charge volume on its cards, American Express Co. on Monday reported in its first-quarter financials that discount revenue grew 13% to $2.97 billion, up 13% from $2.64 billion in 2005's first quarter. The travel-and-entertainment giant however, warned of “some erosion” in the average discount rate in the …
• 24 April

  First National Merchant Solutions Shifts Toward ISOs for Growth

  Long quiet on the reseller front, First National Merchant Solutions is signing up independent sales organizations as part of a strategic shift mapped out by its new president, Diana M. Mehochko. The merchant-acquiring unit of First National Bank of Omaha signed up half a dozen ISOs last year and is …
• 20 April

  PayPal Racks up Double-Digit Growth, But Still Relies Heavily on eBay

  PayPal Inc, which earlier this month announced its foray into mobile payments based on short-message service transmissions (Digital Transactions News, April 6), continues to build transaction volume at double-digit rates in its core e-commerce business, though it remains dependent on parent eBay Inc. for the bulk of its traffic. In …
• 20 April

  First Data’s Profit Dips, Though Merchant-Unit Results Climb 24%

  Leading payment card processor First Data Corp., in the midst of a reorganization and spin-off of its Western Union money-transfer business, late Thursday reported first-quarter earnings of $373.3 million, down slightly from $374.5 million in 2005's first quarter. Revenues grew 10% to $2.70 billion from the year-earlier period's $2.47 billion. …
• 19 April

  ATM Surcharges, Number of Banks Assessing Them, Rise Again

  More banks than ever now levy surcharges on ATM transactions performed by non-customers, and the fee is now higher than ever, according to new data released this week by Bankrate.com, a service of Bankrate Inc. The average ATM surcharge is now $1.60, up from $1.54 in the fall of 2005, …
• 19 April

  TSYS CEO Says Processor Will Build on Ties to Defecting Clients

  Putting his best spin on a tough situation, processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) chief executive Philip W. Tomlinson today said he regards the credit card industry’s top three issuers as prospects for future business, even as all three begin or plan to take tens of millions of accounts off …
• 19 April

  Coghlan Tells ISOs Visa Will Be More ‘Flexible’ and ‘Responsive’

  Speaking to an audience of merchant processors, acquirers, and independent sales organizations, Visa USA's president and chief executive today promised the giant bank card network will become more open to non-issuers and responsive to their concerns, including matters related to operating regulations and data security. Appointed only nine months ago …
• 18 April

  Biller Sites Dominate Online Bill Pay, But Bank-Site Users Pay More Bills

  The number of consumers who use biller Web sites to pay their bills continues to outpace the number who use bank sites, but the latter users are more active transactors, according to recent survey and online-tracking research from comScore Networks Inc. Overall, the online bill-pay market grew 36% in 2005, …