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An Internet payments processor founded early this year is looking to tap into underserved niche markets like schools, service companies, and other small businesses with what it bills as an inexpensive and easy-to-use application. My Payment Network Inc., Corte Madera, Calif., just began operation in August but hopes to be …
Read More »Publix Joins Retailers Suing Visa, MasterCard over Interchange
The ranks of major retailers suing the bank card networks over interchange swelled by one today when Publix Super Markets Inc. announced it had filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Visa USA and MasterCard International. The Lakeland, Fla.-based grocery chain's suit alleges the practice of setting interchange by the two …
Read More »Another Interchange Suit Seeks Sweeping Reform of Fee-Setting Mechanism
The legal battle over the bank card associations' interchange pricing arrangements, already red-hot, got even hotter today when four retail trade associations slapped Visa U.S.A., MasterCard International, and several major banks with a class-action antitrust suit. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New …
Read More »Metris Will Issue Credit Cards on Discover’s Network by Year’s End
Metris Cos. Inc. announced today it will begin issuing cards on Discover Financial Services LLC.'s acceptance network by the end of the year. Metris, the nation's 11th-largest issuer of bank cards, said it will issue a new credit card under the Discover banner through its Direct Merchants Credit Card Bank …
Read More »New Online Processor GreenZap Looks to Credit Card Funding for Growth
GreenZap Inc., a San Diego, Calif.-based processor of e-mail payments that started up this summer as the latest competitor to PayPal Inc., has added acceptance of Visa and MasterCard cards to fund accounts, a move the company says will help it to more than double transaction volume. “The integration of …
Read More »MasterCard to Appeal U.K. Interchange Ruling, While Visa Could Be Next
MasterCard International said today it will appeal a decision from the U.K.'s Office of Fair Trading that concluded the bank card network's method of setting interchange was anti-competitive. Meanwhile, a trade group representing British merchants said it was disappointed in the OFT ruling and may also appeal. The U.K. regulator …
Read More »Processor TransFirst Links with E4X to Offer Currency Conversion
With online merchants in the U.S. increasingly seeking business overseas, TransFirst Inc. is adopting automated currency-conversion technology from E4X Inc. Dallas-based TransFirst, which processes card transactions for 160,000 merchants?including an increasing number of card-not-present merchants?will offer automated currency conversion to its clients as part of its processing service. E4X says …
Read More »Irked by Card Costs, Gasoline Exec Says It’s Time for Interchange Cap
A top official of a regional gasoline marketers' association who wrote a letter to Congress earlier this month calling for regulation of bank card interchange fees says he would like to see the federal government impose a cap on interchange. “They need to look at Australia [where banking regulators last …
Read More »Chase Brings ‘Blink’ to Loyalty Cards with Contactless United Card
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has installed contactless payment technology in the cobranded Visa credit card it issues with United Airlines Inc. The new card, said to be the first airline loyalty card to feature the technology, is part of an ongoing launch the bank has conducted since May of cards …
Read More »Peppercoin Processes Cell-Phone Parking Payments in Las Vegas
Reino Enforcement Technology on Wednesday will begin processing parking fees on 15 meters in downtown Las Vegas through Peppercoin Inc.'s micropayment platform. The meters, which control 150 parking spaces in the city's business district, allow drivers to charge initial parking fees, as well as additional time, to credit and debit …
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