News

August, 2013

• 12 August

  Isis Readies Its National Mobile-Payments Rollout with Two Big Issuers on Board

  The Isis smart-phone-based payments machine is finally getting in gear, observers say, in the wake of several recent developments involving the service that is jointly owned by three big mobile-telecommunications carriers. Giant card issuer JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Monday said that several of its cards will support the Isis …
• 8 August

  Court’s Overturning of the Fed’s Durbin Rule Resurrects ‘Alternative B’ for Routing

  By Jim Daly B is back. That is, what the Federal Reserve Board back in 2011 dubbed “Alternative B” for implementing the transaction-routing requirements in the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment. Alternative B would have required each debit card to provide the merchant access to at least two signature and two …
• 7 August

  As It Gains Greater Utility, Virtual Currency No Longer Just Plays Games

  By Jim Daly The U.S. virtual-currency market grew 52% in 2012 and this year it could more than double to $10.9 billion in purchases, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. What’s more, virtual currency is moving beyond its online-game moorings and into more real-world settings, though …
• 7 August

  Continuing Its Payments Crackdown, the FTC Charges an ISO With Deceptive Marketing

  By Linda Punch If independent sales organizations needed more evidence that the Federal Trade Commission is monitoring their activities more closely, it came last week with the filing of yet another complaint against an ISO. Within weeks of charging two ISOs with violations of the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule, the …
• 6 August

  Formed in Wake of Credit Card Settlement, Recovery Firm Uses ISOs to Sell Claims Service

  With a federal judge’s crucial decision only weeks away, a company formed to help merchants collect their share of the massive credit card interchange settlement is recruiting independent sales organizations to reach eligible businesses. Baltimore-based Brownstone Recovery Group has signed up more than 10 ISOs so far, according to Scott …
• 6 August

  PayPal Bolsters Its Physical Presence Through Deals With Alliance Data, MoneyGram

  By Peter Lucas PayPal Inc. on Tuesday took more steps toward strengthening its in-store presence, and at the same time broadened the reach of its Bill Me Later lending service to consumers carrying private-label cards. Both arrangements are the result of an agreement with Alliance Data Systems Corp., a big …
• 5 August

  VeriFone Brings Point to the U.S. as Part of a New, Managed-Payments Offering

  More than 18 months after acquiring Point, a Sweden-based provider of payment gateway solutions to merchants, point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. announced Monday that it will roll out the service to U.S. merchants beginning this fall. VeriFone intends to offer Point as a managed service through independent sales organizations …

July, 2013

• 31 July

  Court Strikes Down Debit Pricing And Routing Rules, Orders Fed ‘Back to Drawing Board’

  In one of the most dramatic developments of the year in the electronic-payments business, a federal judge on Wednesday struck down the Federal Reserve Board’s pricing and routing rules for debit card transactions, arguing the banking regulator misinterpreted federal law. The rules, which implemented the Durbin Amendment to the 2010 …
• 30 July

  How Many Financial Institutions Can Fit on an ATM? Cardtronics Says up to 10

  Financial institutions wanting to expand the number of ATMs their customers can use in retail locations without those customers paying surcharges have a new option available under an approach announced late last week by Houston-based Cardtronics Inc. While Cardtronics has for years offered financial institutions the ability to put their …
• 30 July

  Green Dot Announces New Distribution, Marketing Deals for GoBank, Prepaid Cards

  Fresh from the launch of its GoBank mobile-banking product, Green Dot Corp. on Tuesday announced new marketing and distribution deals not only for GoBank but also for its core prepaid card program. Green Dot cards will be sold through 20,000 more retail stores, including locations belonging to Dollar Tree, Dollar …