Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
By Jim Daly Merchant processor Heartland Payment Systems Inc.’s outspoken chief executive Bob Carr weighed in Friday with a statement on Indiana’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Carr says the law could relegate some people to “second-class status” and is an “invitation to discriminate.” “It is deeply troubling that the …
Read More »EMV Cards and Terminals Have a Small but Fast-Growing Foothold, Visa Reports
Visa Inc.’s U.S. payment card issuers had about 48 million EMV chip cards in the market as of Dec. 31, a Visa executive said Wednesday. And, somewhat surprisingly, about 80% of the small number of U.S. EMV transactions today are coming from small merchants rather than big retailers, which are …
Read More »An AmEx Appeal Likely as Network, DoJ Still Far Apart on Anti-Steering Rules
American Express Co. and the U.S. Department of Justice submitted proposals Monday for rules changes conforming to a federal judge’s ruling that AmEx’s current ban on merchants steering customers to cheaper forms of payment violates antitrust law. The proposals show the two sides remain far apart, and AmEx reiterated that …
Read More »Target To Pay $10 Million To Settle Data-Breach Consumer Class Action
By Jim Daly Lawyers for Target Corp. and consumers affected by the big discount retailer’s 2013 data breach were scheduled to meet in U.S. District Court in St. Paul, Minn., today to review a proposed settlement under which Target will pay up to $10 million to customers who suffered financial …
Read More »Old-Line Risk Modeling Crimps Money, Time, Expertise for Effective Data Security
With the pressure on to secure the digital fortifications of payment data, security professionals say they need more money, more time, and more knowledgeable staff to defend their companies, according to a survey from data-security company Trustwave. In its 2015 Security Pressures Report, of the more than 1,000 security professionals …
Read More »Reduction in ID-Fraud Losses Surpasses Decrease in Fraud Victims, Study Finds
Some 12.7 million Americans fell victim to identity fraud last year, a big number but down 3% from 13.1 million in 2013, according to Javelin Strategy and Research’s latest annual ID-fraud study. Even better, estimated fraud losses fell 11% to $16 billion from $18 billion in 2013. While those decreases …
Read More »Mass EMV Chip Card Issuance Awaits: Survey
The deluge of EMV chip cards for the majority of U.S. consumers has yet to happen, finds a survey by ORC International Inc. In the survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, only 26% said they had a chip card. That figure increases slightly among consumers with credit cards, …
Read More »Staples And Jack Henry Offerings Promise Yet Hotter Market for Small-Biz Funding
Funding for small businesses has been an increasingly important source of revenue for independent sales organizations and other merchant acquirers, but they’re not the only parties that have noticed the market’s lucrative potential. Now, banking-technology vendors and even large merchants are getting into the game. Jack Henry & Associates Inc., …
Read More »AmEx Could Take an $82 Billion Charge-Volume Hit With Loss of U.S. Costco Card
American Express Co. on Thursday disclosed that it will not renew its merchant-acceptance and cobranded credit card agreements with Costco Wholesale Corp. The card accounted for about $82 billion of AmEx’s worldwide charge volume last year. The possible loss of the warehouse club’s 16-year AmEx card program had been rumored …
Read More »First Data Reports First Profit in 29 Quarters Since Going Private
Leading payment processor First Data Corp. late Tuesday reported its first quarterly profit since being taken private in a $29 billion leveraged buyout by investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in 2007. Net income wasn’t big, $11.8 million, but it beat the $123.1 million loss Atlanta-based First Data reported …
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