Online sellers trying to sort out the plethora of alternative-payments choices?and make decisions regarding which, if any, to accept?should begin by asking questions about what business problems they are trying to solve, a retail executive said at an e-commerce trade show on Wednesday. “Once you understand what problem you're trying …
Read More »Global Security Fears Remain a Drag on Mobile Banking and Payments
Despite intense market-development efforts by tech vendors, processors, and some banks, mobile banking and payments still suffer from consumer distrust, according to results of an international survey released this week by Blue Bell, Pa.-based technology-services provider and server manufacturer Unisys Corp. Unisys, which commissioned a survey of more than 13,000 …
Read More »Study: POS Debit Rises, While Consumers Confirm PIN Preference
The use of debit cards for point-of-sale purchases is rising sharply, while cardholders continue to prefer PIN debit over signature debit, according to a study released recently by the Star electronic funds transfer network, a unit of Denver-based First Data Corp. The study is the latest in a series of …
Read More »Survey Finds Low Prepaid Market Penetration Among Underbanked
Despite lots of headlines, prepaid cards account for only a small share of payments by underbanked consumers, according to results of a survey released Monday by The Center for Financial Services Innovation, a non-profit affiliate of Chicago-based ShoreBank Corp. The national survey of 2,799 adults age 18 and older and …
Read More »How Tyfone Looks to Free Banks from Carriers in Mobile Payments
A provider of mobile-banking and ?payments software has begun promoting a memory card for cell phones that it says could allow financial institutions to move forward with contactless mobile payments without the need to work with wireless carriers. Portland Ore.-based Tyfone Inc., founded four years ago, is testing its Secure …
Read More »A Senate Letter Ratchets up the Heat on Networks over Interchange
A bipartisan letter last week from four U.S. senators to Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. demanding information about how they set interchange rates is ratcheting up the pressure on the card networks, and it could represent another step on the U.S. road to joining about 20 other countries that either …
Read More »Payment Issues Figure Among Reasons for Checkout Abandonment
Various issues with payment methods loom large among reasons consumers give for abandoning the checkout process on e-commerce sites, according to a survey released on Wednesday by PayPal Inc. Some 22% of 355 consumers who had abandoned shopping carts at a mix of large and small merchant sites before completing …
Read More »How Far Will BofA And Wells Go with Their New ACH Platform?
While the recently unveiled joint venture between Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo Co. to create a common platform to process automated clearing house transactions isn't scheduled to become operational until 2010, the venture's very announcement by two of the biggest financial institutions in the country has sparked industry …
Read More »Igourmet Says Security Led It to Adopt Secure Vault Payments
The first merchant to sign up for an Internet-based payment system that relies on consumers' online-banking programs and settlement through the automated clearing house network says the system appeals to customers who are fearful of entering credit card details on Web sites. The merchant also hopes the new system will …
Read More »A Fast Start for Online Resources’ Expedited Bill-Pay Offering
Internet banking and bill-payment services provider Online Resources Corp. this week unveiled its expedited bill-pay service for financial institutions and walk-up providers to offer to consumers and small-business users, ratcheting up rivalries in the fast-growing realm of last-minute payments. While the expedited bill-pay market has some bigger competitors, including Fiserv …
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