Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Chicago-based Braintree Payments Solutions LLC, an independent sales organization specializing in online merchants, expects its $26. 2 million acquisition of New York City-based Venmo Inc. to position it as a direct competitor to PayPal Inc. in the person-to-person payments business and in digital-wallet applications. Venmo’s digital wallet allows consumers to …
Read More »Visa Plans To Offer Its Own Point-to-Point Encryption Service
Point-to-point encryption of card data has been a hot sell for merchant processors and vendors of security technology ever since the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI) took effect in 2006 and especially after a spate of high-profile data breaches at merchants and processors not long afterward. Visa Inc., the …
Read More »Same-Day ACH Idea Could Stage a Comeback, Despite Big-Bank Opposition
A proposal to change the rules of the automated clearing house network to allow faster clearing times, which last Friday fell short of the votes needed to be enacted, is likely to be resurrected in some form, experts polled by Digital Transactions say. “I don’t think it’s dead, but it’s …
Read More »Merchant-Controlled Network Debuts Its Name But Leaves Many Questions Unanswered
The new mobile-payments network being developed by retailers went public on Wednesday with its name, Merchant Customer Exchange, or MCX, and the identities of 15 initial merchant-investors. But, five months after merchants first revealed plans to build an alternative to the major card networks as mobile payments take hold in …
Read More »Acculynk Lands American Airlines, Cites Momentum for Online PIN Debit
Acculynk Inc., which on Wednesday announced it has signed up American Airlines Inc., says the recruitment of its largest merchant yet indicates stronger interest among online retailers in accepting PIN debit transactions. Indeed, Ashish Bahl, chairman and chief executive of the Atlanta-based company, tells Digital Transactions News it expects to …
Read More »ViVOtech Sells Hardware Unit To Concentrate on NFC Software
ViVOtech Inc., a pioneer in contactless payments and near-field communication (NFC) technology, disclosed Monday that it sold its card-reader business to ID Tech, a manufacturer of smart card readers and point-of-sale hardware and identity-verification products. The subject of reports last week that it was laying off people and possibly going …
Read More »Eye on Mobile: Nearly Half of Smart Phone Users Access Shopping Apps
Nearly half of U.S. smart-phone users, or more than 45 million people, tapped a shopping application in June, according to data released on Monday. The leading app was that of eBay Inc., which attracted almost 13.2 million unique users, according to the data from New York City-based researcher The Nielsen …
Read More »A $9 Million Infusion Has Mobile Payments Startup LevelUp Thinking Big
Armed with $9 million in new funding, mobile-payments startup LevelUp plans to use the capital infusion to expand its sales force and build out new solutions to improve the merchant experience. Boston-based LevelUp is launching a remote sales team that will sign and service merchants outside the company’s 10 primary …
Read More »Residual-Based Lending Emerges As Funding Alternative for ISOs
A recent string of deals with processors to offer funding to their independent sales organizations has expanded Arlington, Va.-based startup Super G Funding LLC’s reach as a lender. Super G, which was founded in 2009 and has made loans totaling $10 million to about 80 ISOs, is one of only …
Read More »Virtual Gift Card Player Giftango Looks to Enter Broader Open-Loop Market
Giftango Corp., a major behind-the-scenes player in electronic gift cards, is preparing to move into the fast-growing world of open-loop prepaid cards. n A first step along that road was reached this week when Portland, Ore.-based Giftango achieved so-called Level 1 certification under the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI). …
Read More »