Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Now that New Jersey has become the third state to legalize online gambling, the market for the first time in years has begun to offer possibilities to acquirers as a promising new source of transaction volume. But questions remain about how and how soon the new state laws will be …
Read More »VeriFone’s Stock Plummets After the Company Cuts Its Financial Outlook
The funk at VeriFone Systems Inc. continued late Wednesday when the leading point-of-sale terminal maker said revenues and profits for its first quarter of fiscal 2013 ended Jan. 31 would come in far short of earlier predictions. The downward forecast triggered a selloff in VeriFone’s shares, whose price was …
Read More »Identity Fraud Rises for the Second Year in a Row, New Study Finds
While still down from high levels in 2009, identity fraud rose for the second straight year in 2012, according to the latest annual ID-fraud study from Javelin Strategy & Research. Javelin estimates that 5.26% of U.S. consumers were ID-fraud victims last year, up from 4.90% in 2011 and the recent …
Read More »Forecasters Predict Credit Card Surcharges Will Find Few Takers Come Jan. 27
The surcharging provisions of the credit card interchange settlement announced last July will take effect on Sunday, but observers expect few merchants will take advantage of their new-found freedom to add a surcharge to Visa and MasterCard credit card sales. “I know of nobody” who plans to surcharge, says Mitch …
Read More »On the Rise, Mobile Bill Pay Could Spur More E-Bill Presentment, Card Usage
U.S. consumers are rapidly turning to mobile devices to pay bills, and that trend in turn is likely to encourage more card usage for bill payment and more electronic bill presentment, according to a study released this week. Some 8% of households with an Internet connection paid at least one …
Read More »Eye on Volumes: American Express, Chase Paymentech, Bank of America, U.S. Bank
Some of the biggest payments companies and debit card issuers this week reported their latest volumes and related data along with their fourth-quarter financials. • American Express Co. late Thursday reported that U.S. card-billed business grew 7% to $155.5 billion from $145.5 billion in 2011’s last quarter. International volume increased …
Read More »U.S. Bank Pairs a Rewards Card With iPhone-Based NFC Payments in Two Test Cities
U.S. Bancorp is joining the ranks of banks and tech companies testing near-field communication (NFC) technology by pairing a rewards credit card account with Apple Inc.’s iPhone in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Portland, Ore. The Minneapolis-based banking company is offering new holders of its FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa …
Read More »Appeals Court Tells Settlement Challengers To Wait Until Agreement Gets Final Approval
A federal appellate court has turned down a retailer appeal to review part of the controversial settlement in a massive credit card interchange case, clearing the way for the trial court to move toward final approval. Meanwhile, the Herculean task of notifying millions of merchants about the settlement is getting …
Read More »Online Volume Grows 13% As Mobile Traffic and Bill Me Later Surge
Retail purchases online will reach $318 billion this year, up a healthy 13% from 2011, with mobile transactions accounting for more than 6% of that volume, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. This year marks the first time mobile-originated transactions have accounted for a meaningful share …
Read More »Merchants Appeal a Key Part of the Credit Card Interchange Settlement
Merchants opposed to the agreement settling a massive, 7-year-old credit card interchange case filed an appeal on Tuesday challenging the court’s preliminary approval of a key part of the pact. The appeal, filed by four merchants and seven merchant trade groups, comes on the same day as the U.S. District Court for …
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