Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
In a move that could change the way consumers shop and pay on the Web, a startup called Payvment is marketing a free shopping cart that lets online shoppers accumulate merchandise from a variety of Web sites?including Facebook?and then pay for all of it with a single checkout. “We call …
Read More »PayPal Unveils Platform X, And with It an Array of APIs And New Pricing
Hoping to inspire a burst of innovation beyond what it could expect to deliver within its own research-and-development budget, PayPal Inc. on Tuesday officially turned its global payment engine over to software developers with an array of new application programming interfaces (APIs). With the unveiling of the APIs, which took …
Read More »Accel/Exchange Goes Live With Online PIN Debit
PIN-debit is now live on the Web with Monday's announcement that Accel/Exchange is the first electronic funds transfer network to roll out such a service. The network, a unit of Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv Inc., is making the PaySecure system from technology provider Acculynk Inc. available to its membership base this …
Read More »MasterCard Targets Small And Mid-Size Businesses for Utility Payments
Utility companies looking to convert from paper-based billing to electronic payments are continuing to become payment card acceptors, according to the MasterCard Inc. executive who oversees the network's programs for that merchant sector. “We're very pleased with the movement towards card acceptance across utilities of all sizes,” Steve Carnevale, vice …
Read More »PayPal Steams Ahead, While Recession Takes a Toll on Bill Me Later
A sour economy isn't hobbling PayPal Inc.'s online-payments steamroller, but the downturn and the seemingly fragile recovery are creating some challenges for Bill Me Later, the online credit processor PayPal parent eBay Inc. bought a year ago and this week integrated with PayPal. Meanwhile, rumors continue to swirl around the …
Read More »A Startup Does Medical Payments on an Online Bill-Pay Model
A new approach to facilitating electronic payments with health-care service providers is being developed by Redwood City, Calif.-based Health Team Inc. Founded earlier this year by executives with backgrounds in online banking and bill-payment services, Health Team developed the HealthRails.com network on concepts similar to online bill pay. Currently in …
Read More »PayPal’s Push into E-Commerce Spurs New Funding Options
PayPal Inc. this week introduced new funding options that allow users to load money into their PayPal accounts with PIN debit cards or with cash, then use the funds to buy products online. PayPal's deal with First Data Corp., owner of the Star electronic funds transfer network, was announced Thursday …
Read More »Glitches with Online Transactions, While Fewer, Still Pose Issues
With the recession driving more transactions to the e-commerce channel, the ability of merchants to deliver a smooth experience from log-in to checkout has been magnified. The good news for online stores is that fewer customers are running into glitches while conducting transactions online. The bad news is that merchants …
Read More »A Google Checkout Glitch Raises Doubts About Alternative Payments
Google Inc. has apparently fixed a weeks-old problem with its Google Checkout online-payments system that prevented merchants from processing recurring transactions, such as subscription fees. While Google says the little-publicized glitch affected only a small number of merchants, other observers say this and outages experienced by other alternative payment services?such …
Read More »A Pitch to Newspapers Highlights Google’s Plan for Micropayments
With the popularity of digital content on the rise, processors are starting to see opportunity in a business that seemed moribund only a few years ago?handling transactions that average roughly $5 or less. The latest entrant, or, more properly, entrant-to-be, in this business is Google Inc., which is working on …
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