American Express Co. on Monday became the third of the four major U.S. card brands to announce it will cease requiring signatures for transactions made with its cards at the point of sale beginning in April 2018. AmEx says its rule change applies to all point-of-sale purchase transactions globally, a …
Read More »How Should a Global Network Be Governed? An Answer from AmEx’s Chenault Sparks Debate
Whether he intended to or not, Ken Chenault may well have touched off a debate about what constitutes the ideal governance structure for a global payments network. Chenault, who will retire early next year as chairman and chief executive of American Express Co., charged this week that his two big …
Read More »Discover Is the Latest To Erase a Signature Requirement for Credit and Debit Transactions
Discover Financial Services cardholders soon won’t have to sign for their credit and debit transactions made at the point of sale. As of April 2018, Discover is dropping the signature requirement for transactions made on the Discover Global Network in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, the Riverwoods, …
Read More »Two Years on, EMV Does Its Job Cutting POS Fraud, but Other Fraud Types and New Pitfalls Arise
Credit and debit card fraud at the point of sale is declining precipitously two years after the payment card networks’ EMV chip card liability shifts took effect, but identity, online, and so-called fallback fraud all have risen, according to an analysis of card issuers’ experiences from Auriemma Consulting Group. New …
Read More »Target Launches Wallet, Its RedCard-Based In-App Mobile-Payments Service
Target Brands Inc. finally unveiled its long-rumored mobile-payments service. Announced Monday, Wallet resides in the Target app for iOS and Android devices. Consumers can only enroll a Target RedCard, available as a debit or credit card, in the app. Target gift card enrollment is coming, too, the company says. To …
Read More »Data Breaches Have Exposed More Than 172 Million Consumer Records This Year, the ITRC Reports
Fraudsters have caused 1,202 data breaches this year as of Nov. 29, up nearly 18% from the same period a year earlier, and they’ve exposed 172.4 million records, according to the latest figures from the Identity Theft Resource Center. Some 156.4 million Social Security numbers were compromised in the breaches, …
Read More »Stolen Data Ranges From 20 Cents to More Than $15 on Cybercriminals’ Shopping List
The underground market for personally identifiable information is flourishing, with criminals paying as little as 20 cents to as much as $15 for verified credentials across the dark market. That’s the latest from RSA Security LLC, a data-security company. The Bedford, Mass.-based firm released the 2018 Cybercriminal Shopping List Tuesday, …
Read More »Holiday Shopping: Online Shift Accelerates As Chip Cards Dominate In Stores
The consumer shift to online shopping on Thanksgiving and the following Friday, known as Black Friday, continues to increase, now accounting for 29% of shopping on these two days compared with 25% a year ago, finds research from First Data Corp. Based on data from transactions at 1.1 million brick-and-mortar …
Read More »Fraud Balloons for Electronics Retailers While Post-EMV Online Fraud Abates, Forter Says
Just days before the holiday shopping season begins in earnest, yet another indicator emerges that merchants, especially those selling electronics, should be ready for the onslaught of both legitimate transactions and those perpetrated by criminals. That’s because the recently released Forter/MRC Fraud Attack Index found that attacks against electronics retailers …
Read More »The NRF Predicts Spending for Gift Cards Will Rise Slightly in 2017’s Holiday Season
The average holiday shopper will purchase four gift cards this year, and spending volume on them will rise slightly over last year, according to results of a new survey conducted for the National Retail Federation. Based on reports from 7,439 consumers about their holiday shopping plans, the Washington, D.C.-based NRF …
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