E-Commerce

Merchant processor Electronic Clearing House Inc. and accounting-software giant Intuit Inc. on Tuesday announced that their planned $142 million merger is off. ECHO chairman and chief executive Joel M. Barry laid much of the blame on a federal investigation into Internet gambling that will involve a $2.3 million settlement from …

The volume of unique phishing attacks hit an all-time high in January, while fraudsters broadened their reach to spoof Web sites they hadn't targeted before, such as social-networking and gambling sites, according to a group that tracks phishing fraud. The number of unique phishing e-mails hit 29,930, up 26% over …

A San Antonio, Texas company that specializes in clearing and settling consumer charges for telecommunications companies has signed up seven sellers of digital content for a new online payments gateway that lets users charge downloads to their phone bills. The seven undisclosed merchants are the first clients for what BSG …

MasterCard Worldwide is playing it both ways regarding its new interchange rate schedule set to take effect in April. Internet retailers will see their acceptance costs decline for some MasterCard credit card transactions but rise for others. It depends on whether the card used for a transaction is a “Core …

A startup processor on Monday launched a service intended to allow consumers to pay online merchants with cash. Retail Expansion Network Inc., Oakland, Calif., says its PaidByCash service will attract consumers who are reluctant to use credit cards online or who don't have bank accounts, and will be cheaper for …

In a deal that continues a trend toward consolidation among tech companies in the payments industry, bill-payment services provider CheckFree Corp. on Wednesday announced that it plans to buy online-banking software maker Corillian Corp. for $245 million. The acquisition, which will produce a nice Valentine's Day windfall for Corillian shareholders, …

10 Tipping Points for the Payments Industry Part 6 The venerable credit card has been, by most measures, the most successful retail financial-services product in the past half-century. But even die-hard proponents can in good conscience no longer deny the growing evidence that the market for signature-based credit cards has …

Microsoft Corp. is denying reports that have appeared since the weekend that the computing giant is working on an electronic payment system that could handle micropayments for online content and undercut the merchant pricing for such transactions when handled with bank cards. According to widespread press accounts, William H. Gates, …

Security fears created by such trends as the rise of phishing frauds are eroding consumer confidence in online banking, a recent survey reveals. Consumers also say banks should offer some form of strong authentication going beyond standard user name and password, though they are somewhat split on the specific technology …

Despite strong results in its off-eBay merchant-processing business, PayPal Inc.'s efforts to lessen its dependence on the online marketplace of its parent eBay Inc. hit a wall in the fourth quarter of 2006. The San Jose, Calif.-based online processor saw 36% of the $11 billion in transactions it handled in …