Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
A small, privately held company based in the outskirts of Chicago figures it has the platform on which mobile payments will take off in the U.S., a market that up to now has not been favorable for handheld-based transactions. By the end of the year, C-Sam Inc. plans to have …
Read More »U.S. Wireless Subscribers Exceed Landline Hookups for the First Time
In a development with implications for mobile commerce in the U.S., the number of wireless subscribers has for the first time exceeded the number of landline connections in this country. According to a report compiled by the Federal Communications Commission, there were 181.1 mobile subscriptions in place on Dec. 31, …
Read More »Valista Looks to Strong U.S. Growth in Wake of Partnership with IBM
Looking toward a breakthrough year in payments processing for online and mobile digital content, Valista Ltd. has signed a marketing and technology deal with IBM Corp. that it says will help it recruit its first major North American client since America Online Inc. The unnamed telecom operator, currently a client …
Read More »Ring-Tone Market Jumped 6% Among Mobile Users in April
Some 24.6 million U.S. wireless-phone subscribers?or 13.6% of the base of mobile users?downloaded ring tones in April, according to the latest monthly survey of mobile-phone usage by market-researcher M:Metrics Inc. That's up 6% from the Seattle firm's March survey. At the same time, the survey shows nearly 6 million users, …
Read More »Valista Adds Payments Software to Handle Multi-Seller Content Deals
Valista Ltd. says it has developed the first software product capable of handling payments for digital content offered by multiple merchants on the platforms of wireless operators and Internet portals. The payments software, which the Ireland-based company refers to as a “revenue-assurance” solution, allows operators and ISPs to manage payments …
Read More »Phishing Perks up in March As Fraudsters Target More Brands
After a slowdown in February, the number of Web sites engaged in phishing frauds increased at a faster clip in March, reaching 2,870, according to data released by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, an organization of software firms, payment companies, and law-enforcement agencies that tracks the online fraud. The 6.9% increase …
Read More »BiPSA: A Battle Plan for Taking the Initiative Away from Hackers
With hackers, phishers, and other criminals undermining the trust all transaction networks depend on for their survival, some experts say the time has come to fight back. In the following excerpt from “The Myth of Invincible Encryption,” an article that will appear in the May-June 2005 issue of Digital Transactions …
Read More »Fraud Begins to Take Its Toll on High-Potential Digital Markets
E-commerce fraud is beginning to make itself felt in the markets for voice-over-IP (VoIP) services and in digital-content downloads, both of which are high-potential markets that many processors are counting on for transaction growth, according to Retail Decisions Inc., the U.S. unit of Retail Decisions PLC, a provider of online …
Read More »Hybrid Plans Are Helping to Fuel Dramatic Growth in Prepaid Wireless
Mobile virtual network operators are finding success in re-selling carriers' prepaid wireless service in part through their efforts to penetrate the youth and elderly markets, which are far less saturated than other age groups, according to a leading researcher. Adding to the MVNOs' ability to pick up new subscribers in …
Read More »Reino Turns on Parking Payments with Peppercoin, SunTrust
Reino Parking Systems Inc. said today it had deployed parking meters in locations around the U.S. that will accept credit card payments from either cards or mobile phones, with transactions processed through SunTrust Merchant Services LLC and Peppercoin Inc. The meters are equipped with card swipes, but users with cards …
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