News

October, 2009

• 29 October

  Let 1,000 Flowers Bloom: Inside’s Strategy for NFC Workarounds

  Impatience in the electronic-payments business with the snarled progress of near-field communication for mobile payments is prompting a number of technology providers to develop products that can facilitate transactions without relying on full-fledged NFC. Now Inside Contactless, a major supplier of chips for contactless cards, has entered this arena with …
• 28 October

  Analysts: Processors Must Seek Growth in Non-Credit Card Markets

  With credit card growth sputtering, an expanding debit card market will help lift transaction processors' volumes for the foreseeable future, according to new research from Goldman Sachs & Co. The investment bank also predicts processors will find robust growth markets in nascent channels like mobile payments and established debit-related markets …
• 27 October

  Card Problems Cost U.S. Issuers Hundreds of Millions Overseas

  U.S. payment card issuers missed out on nearly $4 billion in charge volume in 2008, including $78.7 million in interchange, because of problems cardholders had with their cards while traveling abroad, according to a new report by Aite Group LLC. The default response when travelers have a card problem is …
• 27 October

  Ingenico Pitches a PDA for Computing And Card Acceptance

  While a raft of players over the past several months have introduced software that equips smart phones to accept cards, Ingenico has introduced a wireless point-of-sale device that combines in one unit the ability to take card payments, print receipts, and act as a personal digital assistant (PDA). The French …
• 27 October

  Visa Readies a Canadian Debit Debut As Volumes Show Signs of Life

  The first Visa-branded debit cards in Canada will be out in 2010's first quarter, Visa Inc. chairman and chief executive Joseph W. Saunders reported late Tuesday. Saunders, reviewing Visa's financial report for fiscal 2009's fourth quarter, also told analysts that signs of recovery from recession are starting to appear in …
• 23 October

  MasterCard Targets Small And Mid-Size Businesses for Utility Payments

  Utility companies looking to convert from paper-based billing to electronic payments are continuing to become payment card acceptors, according to the MasterCard Inc. executive who oversees the network's programs for that merchant sector. “We're very pleased with the movement towards card acceptance across utilities of all sizes,” Steve Carnevale, vice …
• 22 October

  PayPal Steams Ahead, While Recession Takes a Toll on Bill Me Later

  A sour economy isn't hobbling PayPal Inc.'s online-payments steamroller, but the downturn and the seemingly fragile recovery are creating some challenges for Bill Me Later, the online credit processor PayPal parent eBay Inc. bought a year ago and this week integrated with PayPal. Meanwhile, rumors continue to swirl around the …
• 22 October

  Modern Bank Robbers Could Shutter As Many As 10 Financial Institutions

  Losses caused by massive fraud could bring down as many as 10 financial institutions within the next three years, predict analysts at Treasury Strategies Inc., a Chicago-based consultancy specializing in financial services. Since bank failures are usually caused by economic downturns or mismanagement, the prediction comes as a startling reminder …
• 20 October

  An Inside Look at the Secret Service’s Battle to Hobble the Hackers

  The August indictments of three individuals allegedly responsible for the theft of 130 million credit and debit card numbers in the Heartland Payment Systems Inc. data breach made headlines across the world. Yet little attention is paid to the laborious investigative work needed to track down the criminals behind these …
• 20 October

  ‘A Major Pivot’ for Revolution Money As It Shifts Its Focus to Issuers

  There's some evolution going on at Revolution Money Inc., the low-cost PIN-based credit card and electronic-payments venture. In announcing on Tuesday that Fifth Third Bancorp would be a RevolutionCard issuer, Revolution Money revealed a new focus on building its cardholder base and disclosed another $20 million venture-capital investment on top …