News

April, 2015

• 15 April

  New POS Malware Hides in Plain Sight

    Criminals have developed a new family of point-of-sale malware that hides in plain sight, riding along with core processes inside Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system, says Chicago-based Trustwave Holdings Inc., which uncovered the malware during a recent U.S. Secret Service investigation. Dubbed “Punkey” because of the “unkey” command within its …
• 15 April

  New Bill-Pay App Aims To Get Employees Off the Living Paycheck-to-Paycheck Treadmill

  By Jim Daly A new mobile app from an Atlanta startup that uses remote-capture software provider Mitek Systems Inc.’s imaging technology aims to have workers automatically time the payment of routine bills with their pay days, thereby helping consumers escape the pitfalls of living paycheck to paycheck. “That’s exactly what …
• 14 April

  The Canadian Government Updates Its Code of Conduct for the Payments Industry

  By Jim Daly Canada’s Finance Minister, Joe Oliver, on Monday issued an update to the government’s 5-year-old Code of Conduct for the credit and debit card industry. The update adds consumer protections, addresses the growth of mobile payments and premium cards, and makes other changes intended to give merchants more …
• 14 April

  CoCard, Xpress-pay Team up To Target Insurance, Other Emerging Markets

  Independent sales organization CoCard Anderson and bill-payment software company Systems East Inc. are targeting insurance, government, and utilities merchants in a new program announced Tuesday. Merchant processing is not as widely adopted in these merchant categories as in retail, making them attractive prospects, CoCard says. In the deal, Systems East, …
• 14 April

  NACHA Stats Show Nearly 5% Growth for the ACH in 2014’s Holiday Quarter

  All things considered, the holidays were kind to the ACH. Transactions on the automated clearing house network grew 4.7% in the final three months of 2014 compared to the fourth quarter of 2013, while dollar volume moved by the network climbed 4.9%, according to statistics from NACHA, the governing body …
• 13 April

  Beset by Volatility and Usage Questions, Bitcoin Attracts Record Investment

  Bitcoin had a rough first quarter, leaving open questions about its ability to break into the mainstream of global payments. But that didn’t stop investment cash, which poured into startups supporting the digital currency at a record rate. That’s according to a quarterly report released Friday by Coindesk Research, which …
• 13 April

  PayPal Says a CFPB Lawsuit Over Its Credit Products Could be Imminent

  By Jim Daly PayPal Inc. says the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau might sue it over its credit products by June 30. The possible lawsuit would stem from an investigation dating to 2013, when the CFPB in August of that year filed so-called civil investigative demands (CIDs) for documents, testimony …
• 10 April

  Trust Issues: Banks Losing Favor Among Consumers

  Up against determined competition from big technology companies, financial institutions have always reassured themselves that they still have an edge in payments when it comes to consumer trust. Now, that edge appears to be eroding fast. On the question of consumer trust, banks and financial institutions are losing ground to …
• 10 April

  Hotel Management Firm Finds Malware on Its POS Systems for the Second Time Since 2013

  White Lodging Services Corp., an independent hotel-management firm, this week announced a “suspected breach” of the point-of-sale systems for the food and beverage operations in 10 hotels it manages. This incident follows a breach of the POS systems at the food and beverage locations in 14 White Lodging-managed hotels in …
• 10 April

  Younger Consumers Inclined To Choose Debit, Especially for the Rewards

  Debit-rewards programs offered by banks appear to be rebounding a little, with younger consumers more motivated than other age groups to use them. That’s according to a new report from payments-research firm Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Debit rewards programs fell out of favor with banks following passage of the Durbin …