Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook said Tuesday afternoon that Apple’s new Apple Pay mobile-payment service is doing well three months after its launch, but he gave few details during the company’s latest quarterly earnings call. “Apple Pay is off to a very strong start,” Cook said in his opening …
January, 2015
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26 January
C-Store Chain Wawa Debuts a Mobile Payments And Rewards App
Starbucks Corp. has proven that consumer apps for buying coffee are becoming more popular, and now convenience stores have joined in with c-store chain Wawa Inc. launching its mobile-payments and rewards app. To use the payment function of the Wawa app, which is available for iOS and Android smart …
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26 January
The Fed Releases Strategies, Plans for Faster Payments, Looks for Industry Participation
In a blueprint released Monday for a faster and more secure U.S. payments system, the Federal Reserve called for industry task forces to form early this year and for a “framework” to emerge by 2016 to set rules for near real-time payments. The banking regulator also set out five broad, …
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23 January
Hoping to Avoid ‘Or Else,’ Card Networks and the PCI Council Step Up Compliance Efforts
The private sector often lives in fear of government regulation, but the payment card industry’s indigenous regulators are piling on new disclosure, monitoring and security requirements for merchant acquirers, panelists said Wednesday at the Northeast Acquirers Association (NEAA) annual conference in Boston. While many of the new rules are meant …
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23 January
Inexperience Plus Product Restrictions Likely Killed Amazon Wallet, Analysts Say
The newness of mobile payments likely was a contributing factor to Amazon.com Inc.’s decision this week to pull the plug on its six-month-old Amazon Wallet. That’s the theory suggested by Brian Kilcourse, managing partner at RSR Research LLC, a Miami-based retail advisory firm. Amazon.com launched Amazon Wallet in July, selling …
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22 January
Eye on Earnings: Card Volume Up for AmEx And Discover, But AmEx To Cut Jobs
American Express Co. reported $182.5 billion in U.S. card-billed business in the fourth quarter, up 7.9% from $169.1 billion a year earlier, and discount-fee revenues increased 1.8% to $4.99 billion from $4.90 billion. The average worldwide discount rate, however, decreased three basis points to 2.45% of the sale. American Express …
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22 January
Despite Top Court’s Rebuff, Merchants Seek Debit Relief With Fed’s Own Data
The U.S. Supreme Court may have rebuffed merchants seeking to cut debit card transaction costs, but that doesn’t mean they’re entirely out of options. On Thursday, the Merchant Advisory Group, a Minneapolis-based trade group that counts big-box stores and airlines among its 175 members, released a 16-page white paper using …
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21 January
COMMENTARY: Securing the Future of Safe Electronic Payments
Americans love to shop. Whether online, in a small mom-and-pop business, or at a big-box retailer, shoppers turned out in droves this past holiday season. From Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday for example, online sales were up 12.6%–a record week–according to the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark. For the holiday season overall, …
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21 January
Banks and Credit Unions Continue To Sign Up for Apple Pay
The number of banks and credit unions that support Apple Pay, Apple Inc.’s mobile payment scheme, continues to grow with the First National Bank of Pennsylvania among the latest to join the list. The bank, a unit of Pittsburgh-based F.N.B. Corp., says its debit card users now can use the …
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21 January
AmEx Claims 400,000 Small Merchants Through Its ISO-Driven OptBlue Program
Some 400,000 small merchants now accept American Express Co. payment cards through the OptBlue program that AmEx announced nearly a year ago. OptBlue enables bank card merchant acquirers and independent sales organizations to offer AmEx acceptance to small businesses and set the pricing through a one-stop-shopping option when they sell …