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n U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, is drafting legislation that would legalize Internet poker, a spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News. “This is a poker-only bill,” the spokesperson says. “He [Barton] looks at poker as a game of skill, not a game of chance, and that’s why it should be …
Read More »Among Small Merchants, Acquirers Now Get 40% of Revenue from Fees, Study Shows
n Merchant processors, banks, and independent sales organizations that process transactions for merchants with annual sales of less than $10 million—the vast majority of U.S. retailers—have added on a wide array of fees in recent years for items ranging from statements to monthly minimums to chargeback processing and authorizations. …
Read More »DoJ Should Have Pushed Harder on Steering Settlements, Some Merchants Say
The U.S. Department of Justice filed court documents Tuesday that move toward completion its challenge of Visa and MasterCard network rules limiting merchants’ ability to steer customer payments toward their preferred forms. Tuesday’s action is largely procedural as Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. announced settlements when the DoJ and seven …
Read More »Unfazed by Latecomers Like Square And Intuit, Inner Fence Soldiers on
n n n n Inner Fence refers applicants to its ISO partner, Dublin, Ohio-based Merchant Focus Inc., for merchant accounts. The service uses the Authorize.net gateway for access to the payment networks. Merchants pay a $25 monthly fee, plus 24 cents and 1.74% to 3.79% of the sale, depending …
Read More »Forget PayPal And Google. Acquirers Are Most Worried About Visa, MasterCard
n n n The source of such fears is a fast-changing landscape in which all the payment card networks are looking for new revenues and markets. “Some of my clients are freaking out, without naming names,” says Adil Moussa, an analyst at Boston-based Aite. Card networks are already direct …
Read More »VeriFone Sees a Potential Bonanza in Mobile Wallets Tied to NFC
Bullish on the prospects of electronic wallets residing on smart phones equipped with near field communication (NFC) chips, leading point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. says that topline revenues from software, services, and equipment for NFC wallets could increase in the United States between $100 to $150 million, and …
Read More »Debit May Have Dethroned It, But King Cash Retains Its Allure
Cash: the merchant’s friend or foe? Two of the nation’s largest merchants on Thursday expressed surprisingly favorable views about the ancient payment method while an executive with the Chicago Transit Authority, the nation’s second-largest public-transportation system, wished it would go away as soon as possible. The comments came during the …
Read More »Pummeled in the Recession, Credit Cards Get Back on a Growth Track
After taking a nasty hit in the recession, credit cards are back on their feet, though somewhat wobbly. Figures from First Data Corp., the largest U.S merchant processor, show that credit card usage is sustaining growth after returning to positive territory in early 2010. Data from the bank card …
Read More »Justice Department Seeks to Block VeriFone-Hypercom Merger on Antitrust Grounds
The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit Thursday to stop VeriFone Systems Inc. from buying Hypercom Corp., saying the proposed $485 million stock deal “would substantially reduce competition in the U.S. point-of-sale terminal market.” The DoJ said the current plan to sell most of Hypercom’s U.S. assets to the North …
Read More »Isis Reportedly Quits Building Its Own Merchant Network To Focus on Wallet
The telecommunications companies that own the Isis mobile-payments joint venture have apparently given up on the idea of creating their own merchant network and instead are redirecting their efforts on a mobile wallet, according to a published report. If confirmed, the Isis move means that the existing payment card networks …
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