Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Visa Inc. moved on Thursday to commercialize mobile payments using cloud-based near-field communication technology with its release of Visa Cloud Payment Solutions. A related development, the announcement of the upcoming debut of a tokenization service, is aimed at locking down cloud-based NFC and other digital payments. The new services include …
Read More »Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s Deal for First American Underscores Profitability of Merchant Processing
An investment consortium led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is buying First American Payment Systems L.P., a Fort Worth, Texas-based payment processor and independent sales organization, in a deal that observers say highlights the profitability of merchant processing, despite ongoing margin pressure. First American says the Toronto-based pension …
Read More »Another Zero Option: Cloud-based POS Provider Pose Drops Its Software Fee
Pose POS Ltd., a cloud-based point-of-sale system, has changed its pricing model to a free one, at least for the monthly fee. Formerly $49 a month for the POS service, Pose now charges nothing to use its app, which is available on any device that can operate Google Inc.’s …
Read More »Twitter, Facebook Make Payments Moves, But Do They Threaten Payments Firms?
Twitter Inc. and Facebook Inc. both made moves in the electronic-payments space this week, but analysts question whether the giant social networks are preparing frontal assaults on the payments industry. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook on Thursday revealed that it is testing a “Buy” button that will let members buy products directly …
Read More »Merchants Face A SNAP Decision on Payment Terminals
Many merchants that accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program transactions face an important decision between now and Sept. 21. By then, participating merchants in the SNAP no longer are eligible for subsidized payment terminals because of a change in law mandated by Congress. Until this change, states were allowed to …
Read More »Visa Revamps Its Online Wallet, And Gives It a New Name: Visa Checkout
Visa Inc. says its new online payment service, Visa Checkout, should help improve conversion rates for e-commerce retailers by making it easier for consumers to pay. The service, available in the United States, Canada and Australia, enables consumers to pay online on any device, Visa says. Visa Checkout replaces the …
Read More »ISOs And Acquirers Face Myriad Issues Over the Next 12 Months: Survey
Increasing competition, slow growth, and staying abreast of changing technology top the list of issues facing independent sales organizations and merchant acquirers during the next 12 months, finds a new report from Adil Consulting. Fifty-two percent of respondents cited competition as the top trend, followed by growth, 48%, and …
Read More »It May Be Late to Faster-Funding Game, But PayPal Boasts Size And Experience Edge
Catching up with rivals, PayPal Inc. on Monday joined a growing list of e-payments providers that are speeding up settlement time for U.S. merchants. But instead of making faster payments generally available, the San Jose, Calif.-based eBay Inc. subsidiary is offering to cut funding time from up to four business …
Read More »First Data Goes All in on U.S. Gambling Growth with the Full-Deck PayLucky Product Suite
With an eye to capturing a share of the potential $2.6 billion in U.S. online gambling revenue expected by 2017, payment processor First Data Corp. launched PayLucky, a suite of existing products for gambling and gaming providers, the company announced today. The suite, which includes the Clover point-of-sale system, prepaid …
Read More »Reaching 70% Penetration, Smart Phones Cement Place As Rapidly Adopted Technology
Virtually non-existent seven years ago, the smart phone is steadily establishing its place as perhaps the most rapidly adopted consumer electronic device in U.S. history. Some 70% of U.S. mobile subscribers—or 169 million people—owned one by the end of May, up from 66% just since February, according to the latest …
Read More »