News

January, 2015

• 27 January

  As M-Commerce Increases, So Too Does Fraud, But Disproportionately: Study

  As mobile commerce becomes ever more important to merchants, so too does the number of mobile payments made via apps and Web sites viewed on smart phones and tablets. Along with this growth, however, is a disproportionate increase in fraud as a percent of m-commerce revenue, finds the “2014 LexisNexis …
• 27 January

  Observers Applaud Fed’s Payments Plan, But Lament Slow Pace of Progress

  Now that the Federal Reserve has released its plan for faster payments in the United States, observers are applauding the effort while expressing some impatience with what they see as the central bank’s overly deliberate approach. “The Fed is indeed headed in the right direction, but it is a slow …
• 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 …
• 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, …
• 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 …
• 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 …
• 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 …
• 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 …
• 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, …
• 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 …