Contactless payments got a big boost Wednesday when the New York City area’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved a $539.5 million contract with San Diego-based Cubic Transportation Systems to install a near-field communication-based payment system across all MTA transit and commuter-rail systems that includes open-loop payments. The deal means MTA riders …
Read More »Small Merchants Boost Vantiv as the Processor’s Merger With Worldpay Draws Closer
As its merger with London-based merchant acquirer Worldpay Group plc gets closer, payment processor Vantiv Inc. reported Thursday that it saw strong growth in its merchant-acquiring segment in the third quarter, especially from small and mid-sized merchants. Symmes Township, Ohio-based Vantiv said net third-quarter revenues in its Merchant Services segment …
Read More »PCI Council Leadership Shifts Gears, and the Organization Adds 3-D Secure Standards
The PCI Security Standards Council is without a general manager as the organization that establishes electronic-payments security standards prepares to go in a new direction with its leadership. Out is Stephen W. Orfei, who joined the council in 2014 as general manager and replaced Bob Russo, the council’s original G.M. …
Read More »Visa Kicks Out Handsome Profits, but CEO Kelly Admits To Being ‘a Bit Paranoid’
The Visa Inc. transaction machine continued to spit out profits in the payment network’s final quarter of fiscal 2017, but chief executive Alfred F. Kelly doesn’t want anyone to think he ignores competitive threats such as the rise of China’s Alipay or real-time payment services from other companies. “I think …
Read More »Americans’ ‘Password Hygiene’ Is Getting Worse, International Study Finds
Despite non-stop news reports about data breaches, Americans over the past year have gotten sloppier about their usage of passwords to protect their financial accounts online. That’s the word from research firm Aite Group LLC and Visa Inc., which recently announced results of their second annual Global Security Engagement Scorecard …
Read More »Mastercard Scrubs Its Signature Requirement for POS Transactions
Mastercard Inc. is doing away with a rule requiring merchants to get signatures for transactions made with its credit and debit cards in the United States and Canada. Announced early Thursday, Mastercard’s rule change goes into effect April 13, 2018, allowing issuers, merchants, and processors time to make adjustments, though …
Read More »Visa ID Intelligence Aims To Be A Digital Authentication Hub
Issuers, merchants, and processors all share the same dilemma when attempting to authenticate an online identity. They are bedeviled by personally identifiable information easily accessible to criminals that they can use to spoof authentic consumers. In response, Visa Inc. on Thursday announced the Visa ID Intelligence service, which it says …
Read More »BIM Brings an ACH-Payment Option to Phillips 66, Conoco, and 76 Gas Stations
Consumers using the Phillips 66, Conoco, or 76-branded smart-phone apps soon will be able to pay for fuel using their checking accounts thanks to an integration with Buy It Mobility Networks, a New York City-based payment and customer relationship management platform. Announced Tuesday, the service will be available soon, says …
Read More »Visa Invests in B2B Payments Provider Billtrust
Visa Inc. reported Tuesday that it has invested in Billtrust and is working with the business-to-business payments provider to streamline the reconciliation of B2B payments and increase the automation of virtual card payments for financial institutions and their corporate customers. The companies did not reveal the size of Visa’s investment, …
Read More »Merchants Celebrate the Durbin Amendment’s Sixth Birthday as Payments Group Sneers
The Durbin Amendment’s debit card interchange price cap took effect six years ago this month, prompting a merchant group to celebrate the occasion and claim the measure has saved consumers and merchants $48 billion. But a lobbying group of payment networks and banks derided those savings estimates and once again …
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