Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Creating lifetime, brand-loyal customers who return to your online store with what we call “surprise and delight” is not as easy as it once was. The fact is, shoppers are not created equal. Some online shoppers are deal seekers. Hopping from site to site, these shoppers are easily lured away …
Read More »Costco’s Switch From American Express to Visa and Citi Set for This Weekend
One of the biggest changeovers in the history of general-purpose credit cards is set for this weekend when warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale Corp. stops accepting American Express Co. cards and begins taking Visa Inc. cards. In an email to its customer-members this week, Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco said to “mark your …
Read More »Expedited EMV Process Now Available for AmEx Cards
American Express Co. made available Wednesday the AmEx Quick Chip program that enables a seemingly speedier EMV chip card transaction. Similar to what MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. recently announced, the AmEx program enables consumers to remove their AmEx chip cards from readers once the card has been verified instead …
Read More »Dunkin’ Donuts Pay-Ahead App Available and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• Merchant processor Square Inc. settled a lawsuit filed by a Washington University professor, Robert E. Morley, who said he invented Square’s card reader for smart phones. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Square set aside $50 million in the first quarter to cover legal expenses from the …
Read More »Apple Pay Will Come to the Web Later This Year—But Only for Safari Browsers
Apple Inc. is bringing its Apple Pay service, originally restricted to apps and the Apple mobile wallet, to e-commerce sites on the Web. Apple Pay on the Web will be available this fall as part of the iOS 10 mobile and macOS desktop software updates. “We wanted to bring the …
Read More »TSYS Buys Rest of Joint Venture and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• Payments veteran Michael J. Schwartz was appointed interim chief executive of mobile-payments and -marketing firm Spindle Inc. upon founding chief executive Bill Clark’s resignation. Schwartz comes to the company from Fiserv Inc. Clark had been CEO since 2011. • Processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) purchased the 45% stake …
Read More »Citing ‘Unacceptably High’ Fees, Wal-Mart To Stop Accepting Visa Cards in Canada
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s 400-store Canadian unit announced Saturday that it will no longer accept Visa payment cards in its stores beginning with phased discontinuance starting July 18. “Following an evaluation of credit card transaction fees in Canada and the rest of the world, we have concluded the fees applied to …
Read More »A Deal With Shell Boosts Chase Pay, But the Challenge of Consumer Usage Remains
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is lining up the necessary elements for its Chase Pay mobile service. The bank announced Thursday that more than 14,000 Shell Oil Co. locations potentially could accept the nascent mobile wallet. Chase shared few details, such as when Chase Pay might be accepted at Shell stations, …
Read More »Following Its Decision to Put off a Rollout, MCX to Shut Down Its CurrentC Pilot on June 28
When the Merchant Customer Exchange LLC announced last month it is postponing a rollout of its CurrentC pilot in Columbus, Ohio, observers suspected the news did not bode well for the merchant-controlled mobile wallet. On Monday, those suspicions were confirmed as MCX told CurrentC account holders in an email that …
Read More »The CFPB Sues Processor Intercept Corp. and other Digital Transactions News briefs
• A bill by U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, to replace 2010’s Dodd-Frank Act” would hurt consumers and Main Street businesses,” the Merchants Payments Coalition said, because the measure would do away with the financial reform law’s Durbin Amendment that regulates debit card interchange and sets debit card transaction-routing requirements. …
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