News

July, 2014

• 1 July

  Bill Would Put a Chokehold on the Justice Department’s Operation Choke Point

  The U.S. Department of Justice’s controversial Operation Choke Point, an effort to cut off high-risk merchants’ access to electronic payments by challenging the banks and processors that serve them, continues to draw fire. The latest missile comes in the form of a bill from U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., who …

June, 2014

• 30 June

  Making a Decent Profit Gets Tougher for Retail ATM Deployers

  Non-bank ATM operators, which run an estimated 52% of the nation’s approximately 412,000 ATMs, are struggling to maintain profitability as revenues come under pressure and costs continue to rise, according to a recent study of U.S. ATM deployers by Tremont Capital Group Inc. and the ATM Industry Association. On the …
• 30 June

  Not Content Targeting Financial Services, Phishers Widen Attacks to New Brands

  Online fraudsters are attacking a much wider variety of brands, including grocery stores and Bitcoin exchanges, showing a growing level of sophistication in their efforts to gull unsuspecting customers out of their money, according to the latest quarterly report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group Inc., an 11-year-old organization made up …
• 26 June

  Merchants That Opted out of the Big Interchange Settlement Will Get a Second Chance

  Merchants that elected not to take a share of the $5.7 billion settlement to resolve a massive credit card interchange case against Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and some banks will be given a chance to opt back into a share of the damages under a plan being crafted by lawyers. …
• 26 June

  New MasterCard Rules on Fee Disclosures May Catch Many Payment Processors Unaware

  Two MasterCard Inc. rules governing fee changes and disclosures may catch many in the payment industry unaware even though the rules first became known in December. That is the assessment of attorneys Howard Herndon and Josh Rosenblatt at Frost Brown Todd LLC, a Nashville, Tenn.-based firm. “Typically, acquiring banks and …
• 24 June

  Retailer Confidence in Detecting Data-Security Breaches Abounds, But Is It Warranted?

  Retailers have a hearty sense of confidence when it comes to how quickly their organizations would detect a data breach, especially one that targets sensitive payment information, finds a survey from Tripwire Inc., a data-security company. In the survey of 154 retail organizations, 60% said their systems could detect a …
• 24 June

  Spurred by Fraud and Fear, Debit Card Issuers Cast Aside Their EMV Reservations

  Nothing like a good data breach to serve as a kick in the pants. Thanks in part to Target Corp.’s breach that compromised 40 million payment cards, debit card issuers are committing themselves to the Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip card standard to a much greater extent than they did a year …
• 24 June

  How a Digitally Minded Clientele Led a Small C-Store/Deli Chain to Install Bitcoin ATMs

  With Bitcoin ATMs now having been deployed in scores of locations around the world, merchants are starting to see how the machines could potentially drive traffic and sales—especially with a younger, hipper clientele. The latest merchant to install Bitcoin machines is Locali Conscious Convenience, a three-store deli and convenience-store chain …
• 24 June

  In Wake of Payday-Lender Suit, Holder Makes the Case for Operation Choke Point

  Operation Choke Point, a U.S. Department of Justice effort to shut down fraudulent merchants by going after payment companies that provide network access, shows no signs of going away any time soon, despite growing merchant and processor frustration with the initiative. Earlier this month, that frustration gave rise to a …
• 23 June

  Mystery Surrounds Upcoming Auction of Silk Road Bitcoins Seized by Feds

  One of the most unusual auctions ever is scheduled for Friday, but the event is largely shrouded in mystery. Beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern and continuing for 12 hours, the U.S. Marshals Service will take sealed online bids for 29,657 Bitcoins that the FBI seized in its bust last October …