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In a move long expected by software developers, merchant processors, and others, the PCI Security Standards Council this week said it is adding a new standard for point-of-sale software based on Visa Inc.'s set of best practices for card-processing applications. The action is aimed at strengthening the software component of …
Read More »A Bill Offers Relief to Merchants Besieged by Suits over Receipts
Few people would deny that a law Congress enacted in 2003 mandating payment card receipt truncation had a noble aim?to prevent criminals from getting enough data when they obtained other people's transaction receipts to steal identities or commit card fraud. But some merchants, while complying with the truncation provision that …
Read More »Before IPO, Visa Reaches a $2.25 Billion AmEx Antitrust Settlement
In an attempt to clear away legal issues before its planned initial public stock offering next year, Visa Inc. today said it would pay rival American Express Co. more than $2 billion to settle an antitrust lawsuit AmEx brought seeking compensation for lost business during the years a Visa rule …
Read More »Amid Data Thefts, Visa’s Software Rules Align More Closely with PCI
With five new mandates for merchant acquirers and processors to meet by 2010, Visa Inc.'s Payment Application Best Practices, a set of standards governing payment-processing software, are becoming ever more tightly aligned with the comprehensive Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI) promulgated by the major card networks. But mandates may …
Read More »Eye on Earnings: MasterCard, Heartland, Online Resources
The flow of third-quarter earnings reports from payments companies continued this week with MasterCard Inc. reporting a hefty increase in transaction volume, revenues, and profits, while fast-growing merchant acquirer Heartland Payment Systems Inc. weighed in with a 20% increase in processing volume. And the chief executive of bill-payment processor Online …
Read More »Merchants’ PCI Travails Prompt Security Program from Big Blue
With compliance deadlines already passed for some merchants and looming for others, the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI) has drawn a bevy of vendors into the market to help merchants cope with one or more of its dozen requirements. Now the biggest vendor yet is jumping in. IBM Corp. …
Read More »Upon Further Review, Accounts Exposed in TJX Breach Double
Sources reached by Digital Transactions News aren't surprised at the news that the number of credit and debit card accounts affected in the TJX Cos. breach has doubled, as disclosed by court filings and reported this week by The Boston Globe. Although the off-price retailing chain reported in March that …
Read More »It’s Official: Synovus Will Spin off Processor TSYS in $600 Million Deal
Capping months of planning, bank-holding company Synovus Financial Corp. confirmed Thursday afternoon that it would spin off its entire 80.8% interest in payment card processor Total System Services Inc. (TSYS) to its shareholders. In doing so, Synovus brings up what is likely to be the rear of an extremely active …
Read More »By Arming Consumers, a Startup Hopes to Cut Down on ID Fraud
In a sign of how the problem of identity fraud is spawning new businesses, a La Jolla, Calif.-based startup announced on Tuesday a free service allowing consumers to determine which pieces of junk mail they want to stop receiving. Once consumers use ProQuo Inc.'s Web site to indicate their preferences?which …
Read More »MasterCard Opens a PCI Schoolhouse Featuring ‘Tailor-Made’ Sessions
No. 2 payment network MasterCard Worldwide this week unveiled a global education effort about the Payment Card Industry data-security standard, or PCI. The campaign, which includes free Web-based seminars and live training, comes at a time when restive merchants and others are challenging the card networks about data security, with …
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