Competitive Strategies

Regulatory pressures, the public’s lack of awareness of prepaid cards, and negative publicity from consumer groups and the media are weighing on prepaid card executives’ minds, according to new findings from Aite Group LLC. Researchers from Boston-based Aite polled 24 senior executives during March’s Prepaid Expo USA conference in Orlando, …

Local demographics and the availability of a mass-transit system that uses contactless technology for fare payment chiefly accounted for the decision by Isis, the joint venture formed late last year and led by major wireless carriers, to launch its first pilot next year in Salt Lake City, Utah,  Isis’s head …

  Ingenico S.A. will buy part of point-of-sale terminal maker Hypercom Corp.’s U.S. assets as VeriFone Systems Inc. prepares to complete its acquisition of Hypercom under a deal the companies announced Monday. France-based Ingenico also installed the head of its Australian unit, Thierry Denis, as its new North American president. …

ViVOtech Inc., a payment hardware and software provider specializing in near-field communication (NFC) technology, on Thursday said it is interested in buying the U.S. assets of Hypercom Corp., the point-of-sale terminal maker in the process of being acquired by rival VeriFone Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif. Santa Clara, Calif.-based ViVOtech …

A mobile-payments system from Google Inc. may strengthen the search giant’s hand in marketing but will pose little threat to established payments networks, according to experts contacted by Digital Transactions News. The Google venture, more news of which emerged this week, has surprised some observers because it includes MasterCard Inc. …

American Express Co. on Monday launched Serve, a multifaceted online and offline payment system centered on a digital account and reloadable prepaid card that facilitate person-to-person payments as well as physical, online, and mobile purchases. AmEx says a key advantage of the digital account is that it is funding-agnostic, meaning …

It was only a matter of time before mobile payments came to the parking industry. And no, the latest application doesn’t depend on near-field communication (NFC), a contactless technology that has been ensnarled in endless disputes between banks and mobile operators and is reportedly being eyed by high-flying players like …

PayPal Inc.’s move into the physical point of sale is likely to involve handset-based services that make shopping and buying easier for consumers rather than a direct assault on the checkout counter, according to one expert who follows electronic payments. PayPal will most likely integrate its payments platform with applications …

A Dublin, Ohio-based startup is leveraging air-courier logistics and aggregation efficiencies to wring revenues out of a dying business—the so-called substitute check. Liberty Processing & Services Innovation went live only five months ago and is now printing and delivering about 3 million checks a month on behalf of five client …

Visa Inc. on Wednesday said it is adding person-to-person payment capabilities to its network and cards so that all Visa-branded credit, debit, and prepaid cards from U.S. issuers would be able to receive P2P payments. The first P2P providers to walk through Visa's new door were bank processor Fiserv Inc. …