News

October, 2018

• 3 October

  COMMENTARY: How a New Ruling Sets the Stage for Surcharging in All 50 States

  

  The national trend of merchants passing on their credit card fees continues to accelerate, aided last week by a federal court striking down Texas’s “no-surcharge” law as unconstitutional. The Texas ruling follows the defeat of no-surcharge laws in Florida and California, but it is a unique milestone: Texas is the …
• 2 October

  ControlScan Working With P97 Networks On M-Payments Security

  

  P97 Networks Inc., the Houston-based company behind mobile wallets from Gulf Pay and Phillips 66, will work with data-security provider ControlScan Inc. on controls for mobile-payment services. Announced Tuesday, the deal is targeted at convenience stores and fuel retailers, quick-serve restaurants, and related merchants. Alpharetta, Ga.-based ControlScan will be tied into …
• 2 October

  NACHA Acquires the Business Payments Directory Association To Bolster B2B Payments Services

  

  NACHA reported Monday that it has acquired the non-profit Business Payments Directory Association, a move that deepens the presence of the U.S. automated clearing house network’s governing body in business-to-business payments and provides an entrée into blockchain-based payments. Herndon, Va.-based NACHA said the BPDA will operate as a self-governed group …
• 2 October

  Wells Releases Control Tower App and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/2/18

  

  PayPal Holdings Inc. announced a partnership with the National Basketball Association’s Phoenix Suns that makes PayPal a payment option on some point-of-sale terminals in the Suns’ arena. The PayPal logo also will adorn players’ jerseys beginning Oct. 17, when the NBA season starts. Free Speech Systems LLC, the company behind …
• 1 October

  In Effect Seven Years, Durbin’s Interchange Caps Still Roil the Waters of the Payments World

  

  The debit interchange controls of the Durbin Amendment went into effect seven years ago Monday, and to mark the occasion the Electronic Payments Coalition issued its latest salvo in what appears to be a never-ending feud over that law. According to survey results released by the EPC, 52% of registered …
• 1 October

  Eye on ATMs: Visa Will Lift Dynamic Currency Conversion Restriction at ATMs, Euronet Says; New PAI Leadership

  

  In what may be a boon for ATMs, Visa Inc. will allow dynamic currency conversion for consumers using international ATMs beginning April 13, 2019, says Euronet Worldwide Inc. The Leawood, Kan.-based processor, which operates more than 41,000 ATMs globally, says the rule change enables acquirers and ATM operators to offer …
• 1 October

  Payscape Signs Referral Deal and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 10/1/18

  

  Unattended payments provider USA Technologies Inc. reported that it was unable to file its overdue annual report for fiscal 2018 to the Securities and Exchange Commission within the 15-day extension it asked for in September. The company said it is still investigating certain contractual arrangements that prompted it to ask …

September, 2018

• 28 September

  Behind the ETA’s Self-Regulation Program for ISOs, Acquirers, and Payment Facilitators

  The word “regulation” generates little enthusiasm in the merchant-acquiring industry, but it’s more palatable when “self” is the operative adjective rather than “government.” Thus, the Electronic Transactions Association is pushing its new Self-Regulation Program for acquirers, independent sales organizations, and payment facilitators. Launched early this month, the voluntary program requires …
• 28 September

  In Boarding New Accounts And Reducing Abandonment, Biometrics May Be Nearing the Mainstream

  

  Biometric authentication may be coming into its own as a tool to aid financial institutions and payments companies in serving their customers. At financial institutions, as much as $20.75 million is saved annually using biometric authentication instead of SMS one-time password services, says Reston, Va.-based Daon Inc., a biometric-services company, …
• 28 September

  Eye on Acquiring: Global Payments Ventures Into Fast Food; Shah Resigns As JetPay Chairman

  

  Few businesses have been more targeted by the trend toward integrated payments than restaurants, and late on Thursday that trend unfolded further with Global Payments Inc.’s agreement to lay out $490 million in cash for Sicom Systems Inc., a Lansdale, Pa.-based developer of both front- and back-of-the-store management systems for …