News

November, 2005

• 7 November

  iPayment CEO Sweetens His Offer, But Cautions Company’s Board

  The latest offer from the top executive of Nashville, Tenn.-based merchant processor iPayment Inc. to buy the company and take it private is higher than the one he presented this spring, but contains what appears to be a blunt statement to iPayment board members that they should accept the offer …
• 4 November

  BioPay Chief Sees Flaws in Rival’s CardSystems Strategy

  Biometric-payments processor Pay By Touch Solutions' plans to use CardSystems Solutions Inc.'s processing platform and reseller relationships to help market its point-of-sale authentication system to merchants may hit a few snags, in the view of a leading competitor. BioPay LLC, a Herndon, Va.-based processor that like Pay By Touch authenticates …
• 3 November

  NACHA Sets Rules to Tell Business Checks from Consumer Checks

  NACHA, the Herndon, Va.-based organization that sets rules for the automated clearing house network, has released rules to allow banks and check-accepting businesses to distinguish checks written by companies from those written by consumers. The former are not supposed to be submitted to the network for settlement under NACHA rules, …
• 3 November

  Survey: Retailers Still Falling Short in Consumer Data Security

  Merchants have a long road ahead of them in securing the consumer transaction data they house in their databases, if a survey released this week is any indication. Fewer than half of retailers surveyed have a formal plan in place to handle database intrusions, and of those that do, only …
• 3 November

  Wachovia Cuts MBNA Ties As MBNA Shareholders OK BofA Deal

  Wachovia Corp. has announced it is re-entering the credit card business and will end a relationship with MBNA Corp. under which MBNA has issued cards for Wachovia since 2002. The news comes on the same day that MBNA shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve a $35 billion acquisition of the monoline …
• 1 November

  First American Buys Govolution, Enters Booming Bill-Pay Market

  Consolidation in the rapidly growing electronic bill payment business continued today with the acquisition of Govolution Inc. by Fort Worth, Texas-based processor First American Payment Systems LP. The deal, terms of which were not disclosed, hands First American an immediate stake in the business of processing taxes, fines, permit fees, …
• 1 November

  MasterCard Reports Debit Increase Nearly Triple That of Credit

  Reflecting a recent trend in card-based payments, signature-debit card dollar volume on MasterCard International's U.S. network grew at double-digit rates in the first nine months of the year, far outstripping growth in credit card transactions. MasterCard reported today that its signature, or offline, debit cards in the U.S. accounted for …

October, 2005

• 28 October

  TransFirst Looks to Buy a Bill Processor to Create Card-Based Service

  Noted in recent years for its strategy of buying assets in high-growth processing niches, TransFirst LLC is back in the hunt, this time looking for a bill-payment processor that can help it create a service for small financial institutions that would allow customers to pay bills on the banks' Web …
• 28 October

  Is Peppercoin Eyeing Opportunities in Hot Contactless Market?

  Could Peppercoin Inc., a processor of micropayment transactions both online and in card-present venues, be eyeing opportunities in the hot market for contactless payments? Though he refuses to comment on whether the company has any such plans, Mark Friedman, the Waltham, Mass.-based company's chief executive, he has clearly watched developments …
• 27 October

  Chase Brings Contactless Payments to the Northeast Corridor

  JPMorgan Chase & Co. is extending its rollout of contactless payment technology to the populous northeast corridor of the country. Its Chase Bank U.S.A. N.A. said today it will begin sending new cards equipped with chips and tiny radio transmitters to some 2.9 million cardholders this week. In addition, about …