Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
In a deal that could better position MasterCard Inc. as a provider of transaction services for mobile and online commerce, the Purchase, N.Y.-based card network announced on Monday it is buying Orbiscom Ltd., a Dublin-based software company, for $100 million. MasterCard, which has been working with Orbiscom for the past …
Read More »How the Onset of Web 2.0 Puts E-Commerce up for Grabs
This article kicks off a six-part series by electronic-payments researcher and consultant Steve Mott that explores how the next generation of e-commerce will be defined by the Web 2.0 phenomenon, leading to dramatic changes in the transactional environment. The final installment of the series will appear in the February issue …
Read More »Bill Me Later Not Likely to Suffer from Its Ouster from Amazon
Not surprisingly, Amazon.com Inc. disclosed this week that it would no longer accept Bill Me Later Inc., the fast-growing online credit system now owned by Amazon archrival eBay Inc. But at least one analyst expects the damage to Bill Me Later will be minimal despite the loss of access to …
Read More »Facebook Balks, But Expect Social Networks to Launch Payments
Don't look for Facebook to get into the payments business any time soon. According to a report this week in “Inside Facebook,” a Web site that tracks Facebook developments for software developers and marketers, the social network has put on hold a payments platform that the network had announced a …
Read More »Fraudsters Run One-Stop Shop Online to Sell Data-Stealing Code
Fraudsters are running an online trading post for highly sophisticated code that allows criminals to more easily steal consumers' log-on credentials, Social Security Numbers, PINs, and other confidential information, according to the latest report from RSA Security Inc.'s Anti-Fraud Command Center. The fraudster Web site, which RSA analysts call a …
Read More »Online Holiday Sales Track with Last Year, But Average Tickets Drop
Despite a sputtering economy, online merchants overall are breaking even with last year in terms of holiday sales, and the largest e-commerce sellers are running slightly ahead, according to statistics released this week. Web-based sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 19 totaled $24.03 billion, a 1% decline from the equivalent …
Read More »Schools And State Agencies Eye NACHA’s Online Payment System
Secure Vault Payments, the online payment system that NACHA has been piloting since last spring, is catching on as a bill-payment alternative among colleges and state agencies, says Kendall Myles, the executive who is heading up SVP merchant recruitment for NACHA, the regulatory body for the automated clearing house network. …
Read More »Online Merchants May Have a Tougher Time with Fraud in 2009
While online merchants managed to keep a lid on fraud losses in 2008, a faltering economy could make 2009 a costlier year, a leading expert says. “It'll be interesting to see if merchants can hold fraud rates steady” next year, says Doug Schwegman, director of market and customer intelligence at …
Read More »Processors Jockey for Position in Fast-Growing Digital-Content Market
While most attention in e-commerce is focused on enabling payments for Web sites run by major chains, airlines, and other hard-goods merchants and sellers of high-end services, some processors have begun to carve out stakes in a corner of online commerce that doesn't get as much notice?digital goods. This week, …
Read More »Why NYCE Plans To Test Two Online PIN Debit Systems in Parallel
The NYCE electronic funds transfer network, which last month said it will pilot PINless purchase transactions online, has become the second EFT system to agree to test Web-based debit card transactions secured by PINs. While Steven A. Rathgaber, president and chief operating officer at Secaucus, N.J.-based NYCE, says many of …
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