News

March, 2005

• 21 March

  First Data Begins Handling Burger King Transactions in Canada

  First Data Corp. has begun to process MasterCard transactions at 123 Burger King Corp. outlets in Canada. The processing deal expands on one the Denver-based processor has for card processing at Burger Kings in the U.S. The card transactions at the Canadian Burger Kings are part of MasterCard's Quick Payment …
• 18 March

  MasterCard Says It Wants Retailers to Stop Storing Mag-Stripe Data

  Having recently agreed to standardize their protocols for transaction-data protection primarily at online merchants, the card networks are beginning to push for improved security of stored data at brick-and-mortar retail locations, as well. The move comes in the wake of alarming breaches of card-transaction data at physical retail stores, including …
• 18 March

  Deep Interchange Cuts for SecureCode Could Hike Merchant Enrollment

  MasterCard's recent decision to slash its interchange pricing for e-commerce merchants that adopt the bank card association's SecureCode authentication program should significantly improve the business case for the technology and put pressure on Visa USA to respond, industry sources say. “I can't imagine [Visa is] going to let MasterCard steal …
• 16 March

  Discover Chief Nelms Calls for Innovation, Asks for ISO Help

  In a determined if not defiant speech delivered today at a conference of independent sales organizations, Discover Financial Services Inc. chief executive David Nelms invited ISOs to help Discover build its network by helping introduce new services and recruiting more merchants. He also decried high merchant acceptance costs and took …
• 14 March

  Bill Me Later Adopts Electronic Bill Payment And Presentment

  I4 Commerce Inc., which processes the Bill Me Later payment option on e-commerce sites, has adopted an online bill-presentment and -payment technology to allow accountholders to pay for their Web transactions. The service, which allows consumers to pay for online purchases with credit extended by I4Commerce, will use an application …
• 14 March

  MasterCard and Visa Agree on Standard for Contactless Payments

  MasterCard International and Visa International, which are now both offering platforms in the U.S. for contactless card transactions based on radio-frequency identification technology, have agreed on a common communications protocol and on testing requirements for the technology. The agreement should mean that payment devices branded by one of the associations …
• 11 March

  Startup Travel Portal Gives PayPal a New off-eBay Channel

  Internet transaction processor PayPal Inc. will handle settlement of payments between travel agents and hotels, car-rental agencies, and other non-airline travel suppliers as part of a single-source, electronic booking portal offered by a San Francisco-based startup company. The deal helps PayPal further its strategy of moving more payments outside the …
• 10 March

  TransFirst Begins Push for New Virtual Terminal/Gateway

  Dallas-based processor TransFirst today began marketing a Web-based payments-processing engine that was developed by a company it acquired a year ago and is currently being used by 3,500 merchants. Called Transaction Central, the new product acts as a virtual terminal for physical merchants and a payments gateway for Net retailers, …
• 10 March

  Hackers and Phishers Add to Their Arsenal, New Report Says

  Not only is the sheer volume of phishing attacks rising, but the sophistication by which fraudsters are fooling unwitting Internet users is increasing, as well, according to a recent report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group. The organization of law-enforcement agencies, security-software companies, and payment networks says it observed several new …
• 9 March

  Report: Online Gift Card Bazaars Will Grow with the Plastic’s Popularity

  Although it's a minuscule portion of the total value of retailer-issued gift cards sold in the U.S., the nascent aftermarket for these cards is set for a boom, according to recent research by TowerGroup Inc., Needham, Mass. About 4,500 cards are currently available for auction on a number of recently …