Automated Clearing House

Total losses from e-commerce fraud will hit $2.8 billion in 2005, up from $2.6 billion last year, with large and mid-sized merchants getting hit the hardest after several years of success in controlling the problem, according to a study released today. Although the overall rate of fraud loss will dip …

Biometric-payments processor Pay By Touch Solutions' plans to use CardSystems Solutions Inc.'s processing platform and reseller relationships to help market its point-of-sale authentication system to merchants may hit a few snags, in the view of a leading competitor. BioPay LLC, a Herndon, Va.-based processor that like Pay By Touch authenticates …

NACHA, the Herndon, Va.-based organization that sets rules for the automated clearing house network, has released rules to allow banks and check-accepting businesses to distinguish checks written by companies from those written by consumers. The former are not supposed to be submitted to the network for settlement under NACHA rules, …

So-called expedited bill payments are rapidly growing in volume in the U.S., and are also becoming increasingly electronic as remote-payment channels like the Internet gain transaction share from traditional walk-in channels. That's one conclusion TowerGroup, a Needham, Mass.-based payments-research firm, has come to in two studies released this week. Expedited …

Internet retailing giant Amazon.com Inc. will likely begin accepting payments cleared through the automated clearing house from at least a portion of its customer base, possibly by the end of this month, says a source familiar with the matter. This source, who asked to remain anonymous, says the move would …

Contrary to the misgivings of some retailers regarding the automated clearing house's point-of-purchase electronic check application, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. says its experience with POP has been largely positive. At the same time, however, a new fee proposed by NACHA, the rules-setting organization for the ACH, and intended to discourage unauthorized …

A Seattle-based startup that has been quietly testing a contactless payment system intended to be branded and controlled by merchants is now marketing the system as a way for retailers to control rising card-acceptance costs. Accelitec Inc. says its PayPilot system, which includes token dispensers, tokens equipped with chip-and-transmitter inlays, …

Although the conversion of paper checks into electronic transactions at billers' lockboxes and other central locations is growing at a torrid rate, it will level off by 2008, in part because check volumes are dropping faster than expected, according to a new research report. The 3-year-old conversion process, in which …

A proposal to impose an estimated $17 per-transaction fee on banks that enter automated clearing house transactions on behalf of payees for items returned as unauthorized has been rejected by the membership of NACHA, the Herndon, Va.-based rules-setting body for the ACH. According to a notice NACHA sent to its …

Chase Merchant Services LLC has launched a processing and consulting arm aimed at helping billers set up and manage bill-payment services. In a press briefing today, Chase executives stressed the new service, called BillPay Recurring Biller Solutions, would embrace cards as well as alternative payment types such as the automated …