E-Commerce

Google Inc.'s decision to extend Checkout's offer of free processing to the end of 2007, which it announced Wednesday, could help the 6-month-old online payments service attract more merchants at a time when it's not only up against heavy-duty competition, but also facing skepticism from some online sellers. The new …

E-commerce sites held up well under an onslaught of shoppers on what has become known as Cyber Monday, widely considered one of the heaviest traffic days of the year for Internet retailers, says Keynote Systems Inc. Keynote, which measures Web site performance, said Monday the more than 30 sites it …

In a move aimed at addressing widespread fears about e-commerce security, MagTek Inc. has launched a company to commercialize its card-based authentication technology and leverage it for both online and point-of-sale transactions. Magensa LLC, a subsidiary of the Carson, Calif., maker of check scanners and card-terminal components, officially began operation …

A trio of studies released on Monday indicate the 2006 holiday-shopping season should be merry and bright for gift cards and Internet transactions. Gift cards will be the second most popular item on gift-givers' lists this year, edged out only by apparel, according to survey results from both American Express …

Online merchants' fraud losses will hit $3 billion in 2006, up 7% over last year, but the overall growth in e-commerce means fraud as a proportion of sales will dip slightly, to 1.4% from 1.6%. This mixed news comes as Web merchants adopt an increasing array of alternatives to bank-issued …

The links between the growing payment sectors of prepaid cards and online banking just got a little tighter with the creation by Online Resources Corp. of a new service that lets consumers buy private-label gift cards through their financial institutions' online banking and bill-payment sites. The service, called CardHQ, currently …

First came PayPal Inc., then Google Inc.'s Checkout service. Now MODASolutions, an Ottawa-based company that lets consumers pay e-retailers as if they were paying any other online bill, is offering incentives tied to the holiday-shopping season to promote alternative ways to pay online. But in MODASolutions' case, its SECURE-eBill service …

PayPal Inc. will pour as much as $100 million into a new promotional campaign aimed at driving traffic to merchant sites that accept PayPal. The campaign, which kicks off Nov. 23 and includes cash-rebate offers between $10 and $20 as well as free shipping when consumers use PayPal, is entirely …

Bill-payment processor Online Resources Corp. on Thursday reported sharply higher third quarter numbers for transactions, clients, and users as the Chantilly, Va.-based company for the first time included results from rival processor Princeton eCom Corp. Online Resources, which acquired Princeton eCom for $180 million this summer, also said its integration …

August brought some relief in the generally rising onslaught of phishing, with the number of newly detected, unique Web sites hosting attacks dropping dramatically to 10,091 from a record 14,191 in July, according to the latest report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group, which monitors the online fraud. Similarly, the number …