Credit Cards

Merchant acquirer Heartland Payment Systems Inc. reported on Tuesday that it has found malicious software on its processing system, the result of a breach that happened in 2008 but which Heartland says is now contained. The malware captured an unknown quantity of card numbers and expiration dates along with a …

The latest credit card charge-volume figures from the nation's top three banks show big declines, portending weak results when other issuers, merchant acquirers, and Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. report their fourth-quarter earnings in coming days. On Friday, Bank of America Corp. reported fourth-quarter purchase volume of $56.6 billion on …

Interchange, the most controversial part of credit and debit card pricing, is the subject of a background paper MasterCard Inc. posted on its Web site last week, just ahead of the inauguration on Tuesday of a new president and his administration. A MasterCard spokesperson tells Digital Transactions News the document …

Some experts have predicted that the recession would create opportunities in the merchant-acquiring businesses, especially if independent sales organizations or other merchant processors decide to sell their portfolios or seek well-capitalized partners. Those opportunities seem to be just what venture-capital firm Austin Ventures is pursuing with the creation of Century …

Fireman's Fund Insurance Co. this week unveiled what it says is the first coverage available to small and medium-sized businesses for losses from payment card data breaches. News of the policy came on the same day that a non-profit research organization reported that data breaches increased 47% last year. The …

At a time when many independent sales organizations are struggling to keep transaction volumes up as consumers reduce discretionary retail and restaurant spending, YapStone Inc. is further entrenching itself in a stable and high-growth revenue niche, recurring payments, through its Dec. 31 acquisition of the assets of Paymerica LLC. Jacksonville, …

Despite a sputtering economy, online merchants overall are breaking even with last year in terms of holiday sales, and the largest e-commerce sellers are running slightly ahead, according to statistics released this week. Web-based sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 19 totaled $24.03 billion, a 1% decline from the equivalent …

The latest data-breach battleground has shifted to merchant-acquiring and prepaid card territory. Atlanta-based RBS WorldPay, a big acquirer owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group that also provides prepaid card programs, late Tuesday afternoon reported a breach of its computer system that may have compromised personal information on about …

It started not even a week ago, but a pilot program in which Boston-area commuters can pay for parking by mobile phone appears to be a hit with riders, according to early anecdotal feedback. “The buzz has been huge with customers, we've only been deployed for four days,” Ian Larrabee, …

As both a card issuer and payment card network, Discover Financial Services is feeling the sharp pinch of recession. Discover chief executive David Nelms indicated to analysts on Thursday that Discover would play a conservative game on the issuing side in 2009, but not necessarily so on the merchant side. …