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Newspapers, television, and the Web are full of bleak assessments about the U.S. economy, but you wouldn’t know that from the latest financial and operating results reported by Discover Financial Services, the credit card issuer and student-loan provider that’s also the fourth-largest general-purpose credit card network. Discover card sales …
Read More »Private-Equity Player GTCR Swoops in to Snatch Fundtech from S1’s Grasp
In yet another twist in the ongoing corporate drama involving payments-software firms S1 Corp., Fundtech Ltd., and ACI Worldwide Inc., news emerged early on Thursday that Fundtech is spurning S1 in favor of what it views as a better offer from GTCR, a Chicago-based private-equity firm with a history of …
Read More »Visa Hikes Prepaid Interchange But Chops Some Debit Rates
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Read More »Consumers May Not See Much Durbin Benefit from Card-Not-Present Merchants
n Some 41% of card-not-present merchants responding to the survey at the Direct Response Forum’s annual conference earlier this month said they do not intend to pass on lower debit card costs to consumers, according to results announced on Thursday by the DRF. Fully 56% said they don’t know …
Read More »Shazam And Adaptive Payments Unveil PIN-Debit Acceptance on Smart Phones
One week after announcing it is testing dual-message PIN debit, the Shazam debit network said on Tuesday it will introduce later this year a product that will let merchants accept PIN debit transactions on smart phones. The product, developed by Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based authentication-technology vendor Adaptive Payments, comes as networks …
Read More »With an Added 50 Cents Per Share, ACI Ups the Ante in Its Bid for Control of S1
ACI Worldwide Inc. on Thursday sweetened its offer for rival payments-software vendor S1 Corp. Facing stiff resistance from S1’s management, ACI added 50 cents a share to the cash portion of its bid, increasing it from the $5.70 it first offered July 26 to $6.20. It is also offering about …
Read More »Fifth Third’s Credit/Debit Card: A Response to Customers, But Also Suited to Durbin
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Read More »Responding to Merchant Demand, Shazam Prepares Dual-Message PIN Debit
n In a related move, Shazam is also testing applications written for both the iPhone and Android mobile operating systems that will let store staffers move away from checkout counters and use mobile devices to complete PIN-debit transactions anywhere on the sales floor. These apps will also become available …
Read More »New Debit Card Usage Fees Raise Questions About Their Stickiness
Banks are likely to continue testing debit card usage fees in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s new price controls on debit interchange, though such fees are generating heated debate about whether they make good business sense. “Disincenting consumers to use debit cards I just think is a terrible strategy …
Read More »In a Shareholder Letter, S1 Seeks Support for Fundtech Deal And Fires Back at ACI
The heated rivalry between payment-software firms S1 Corp. and ACI Worldwide Inc. for the loyalty of S1’s shareholders took on yet more urgency on Monday as S1 urged owners of its shares to reject an offer from ACI. In a letter to shareholders seeking proxies in support of a proposed …
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