Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
PayPal Inc.'s multiyear campaign to build up the share of transactions it processes from Internet merchants rather than auction sellers has paid off in a steady rise in non-auction volume to the point that online merchants now account for very nearly half of the processor's total volume, excluding its gateway …
News
July, 2008
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15 July
Up Only a Week, ChargeSmart’s Next Step Is Lender Tie-Ins
A startup that lets consumers use their credit cards to make mortgage payments and meet other credit obligations online is talking to lenders about including its payment service when consumers close on loans. Because the service doesn't charge billers for payments, company officials expect the tie-ins will carry considerable appeal …
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15 July
With Boston on Board, Select-A-Branch Plans Further Expansion
Select-A-Branch, the multibranded surcharge-free ATM network, reported on Tuesday that it has completed installation of 10 machines in Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway stations, but its growth train won't stop in Boston. “Look for us in some major airports,” Dan Stechow, chief operating officer of King of Prussia, Pa.-based Select-A-Branch …
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14 July
Bill Me Later’s Growth Plans Don’t Stop at Amazon Acceptance
Bill Me Later Inc., the online alternative financing system, is now live on the Amazon.com site. Announced last week, that development is no surprise as Amazon back in December said it had invested in Bill Me Later and would offer the payment service to its customers (Digital Transactions News, Dec. …
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10 July
Google’s Gmail Joins eBay and PayPal in Phishing Fight
Google Inc.'s Gmail this week followed Yahoo! Inc. to become the second big e-mail provider publicly working with online auction host eBay Inc. and its PayPal payment service to fight phishing scams. With Google's Checkout service attempting to gain online charge volume in a PayPal-dominated alternative-payment market, the anti-phishing partnership …
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9 July
A MyGallons Rival Emerges to Let Users Lock in Gas Prices
While MyGallons LLC struggles with issues surrounding the launch last week of its prepaid card that lets consumers hedge the price of gas (Digital Transactions News, July 7), another startup is emerging with a similar business model. Boynton Beach, Fla.-based GasBankUSA LLC plans to start issuing debit cards later this …
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9 July
Visa Rule Change Means Little Change for Web-Based PINless Debit
Visa Inc.'s rule change regarding PIN-based debit card transactions, which antitrust authorities disclosed last week, raised hopes that PINless debit would soon be making headway in Internet payments, but on second glance that's not likely to be the case, analysts say. That's because the electronic funds transfer networks, not Visa, …
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8 July
Obopay Maps a Strategy for Mobile Payments in ‘Niche’ Markets
Mobile-payments processor Obopay Inc.'s recent agreement to provide services for a handset-based remittance product from MasterCard Worldwide (Digital Transactions News, June 19) is part of a wider strategy at Obopay to develop services in a variety of payment markets, including prepaid top-up, payroll, and benefits payments as well as remittances, …
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7 July
A Prepaid Card That Lets Consumers Lock in Gas Prices Seeks a Network
A Miami-based startup says it signed up more than 5,000 cardholders in the first two days its service was commercially available last week in a program that allows consumers to lock in the current price of gasoline by prepaying for fuel. MyGallons LLC, which began its service last Monday after …
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7 July
Electronic Bill Pay Gains At Paper’s Expense, But Growth Is Slowing
The share of bills consumers pay the old-fashioned way via the regular mail continues to decline, according to the U.S. Postal Service's most recent annual study about what goes through the mails. But despite the gains of electronic bill payments, the availability of free bill-pay service at most banks may …