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Peppercoin Inc., which started out as a processor of so-called micropayments for online content but soon began to embrace small-value point-of-sale transactions, now sees opportunity in both contactless technology and vending markets, its top executive says. “We've set bigger sights for ourselves,” says Mark Friedman, chief executive of the Waltham, …
Read More »Seeing Incident ‘Uptick,’ Visa Issues Security Alert to Small Restaurants
Visa USA Inc. is releasing a security alert in response to an increase in data breaches it has detected among small and mid-sized restaurants. In reviewing data from the last few months, Visa saw “there's been an uptick in incidents from this sector” compared to previous time periods, says Martin …
Read More »Unfazed by eBay’s Ban, Google Eyes PayPal, Other Payment Methods
Ebay Inc.'s decision to bar Google Inc.'s new payment product from its massive online auction site doesn't seem to faze the online search company. Indeed, the executive in charge of Google Checkout, which debuted less than two weeks ago (Digital Transactions News, June 29), tells Digital Transactions News Google has …
Read More »PCI Expert Cautiously Optimistic As Compliance Rate Looks to Climb
Of 232 large U.S. merchants identified by Visa USA in 2004 and 2005, some 23% now comply with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI), but 73% are projected to be in compliance by the end of the year “based on progress reports,” says Michael Dahn, president of Volubis Inc., …
Read More »First Biometric Fob for RFID Payment Could Be in Pilot by Year’s End
Privaris Inc. expects to begin pilots for a biometrically secured contactless-payment fob in both physical point-of-sale and Internet payment applications by year's end, an executive with the Charlottesville, Va.-based company says. While the device, which Privaris announced last week as the first contactless key fob secured by fingerprint ID, has …
Read More »Google’s Payment Service, Tied to AdWords, Could Be ‘Game-Changer’
Following a year of on-again, off-again speculation about its plans in online payments, Google Inc. launched a transaction service Thursday with at least 92 online merchants of various sizes already signed on, from Ace Hardware, Ritz Camera, and Buy.com to Trendy Togs and FaucetDirect. The new service, called Google Checkout, …
Read More »Survey: Online Payment Alternatives Could Tap $14 Billion in Missed Sales
Some 74% of consumers would be willing to spend about $960 more per year on music, games, subscriptions, and other digital content online if they could use a form of payment that's safer and more convenient than a credit or debit card, a survey released Tuesday reveals. Given current estimates …
Read More »Pressure Builds in Congress To Address Data-Security Breaches
With the loss or theft of computerized personal information making headlines almost daily, lawmakers are scrambling for solutions for what is shaping up to be the 21st Century's hottest non-violent crime. More than a dozen bills that would put new requirements on banks and other entities with access to sensitive …
Read More »Will 1,000 Philly Coke Machines Usher Contactless into Vending?
Some 1,000 Coca-Cola vending machines in Philadelphia will be equipped with contactless-payment technology over the next four weeks, and will all be accepting contactless tokens for payment by the end of July, according to USA Technologies Inc., the Malvern, Pa.-based company whose e-Port radio-frequency device is being used with the …
Read More »Yodlee Takes Its Web-Based Approach Beyond Online Bill Payment
On the heels of an online-bill payment product it introduced last week that allows consumers to pay with credit cards, Yodlee Inc. on Tuesday introduced a Web-based tool that competes with personal-finance software and lets consumers pay bills and transfer funds. “We're capitalizing on the convergence between online banking and …
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