News

December, 2013

• 19 December

  Fed Report: Plastic Strengthens Its Grip on Payments As Credit Cards Resume Growth

  More than ever, plastic dominates the business of electronic payments in the United States, with two-thirds of all noncash transactions in 2012 occurring on a card, up substantially from 60% just three years earlier. That’s according to the Federal Reserve System’s triennial payments study, released Thursday. The sweeping research report, …
• 19 December

  PayPal Picks up StackMob In Bid to Streamline Payments Features for Mobile Apps

  PayPal Inc.’s acquisition of mobile developer StackMob Inc. may help it build a talent pool to more quickly and easily deploy mobile apps, suggests one analyst. n “We are building one of the most modern, advanced development environment and infrastructure in the payments industry,” a PayPal spokesperson says. “We believe …
• 18 December

  Amazon’s Apparent GoPago Deal Could Presage Move Into Brick-And-Mortar POS, Experts Say

  Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. appears to have bought tablet and mobile point-of-sale provider GoPago Inc., according to a report in La Repubblica, an Italy-based newspaper. In the report, Vincenzo Di Nicola, a GoPago co-founder and its chief technology officer, says Amazon paid an undisclosed amount for the company. The article, …
• 18 December

  VeriFone’s New CEO Outlines His Plans To Get the Terminal Maker Back on Track

  Paul Galant, the new chief executive of payment-processing hardware and software maker VeriFone Systems Inc., says he’s committed to increasing research and development, rationalizing VeriFone’s sprawling product lines, and becoming “more nimble and more focused on our strengths.” Galant, a former senior Citigroup Inc. executive who took the helm 78 …
• 17 December

  Reflecting Acquiring-Industry Changes, the ETA Rebrands Its Annual Conference as ‘Transact’

  For more than 20 years the Electronic Transactions Association’s conference has been known as the “ETA Annual Meeting & Expo.” But next spring the merchant-acquiring industry’s biggest gathering will be known as “Transact 14: Powered by ETA.” The rebranding around the “Transact” name, according to ETA chief executive Jason Oxman, …
• 17 December

  Mercury Payment Takes A Step Toward Going Public

  Mercury Payment Systems LLC may be considering a move to take the independent sales organization public. On Friday, Durango, Colo.-based Mercury issued a release disclosing it had filed a confidential draft registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that may presage the payment company’s public stock offering. Such …
• 16 December

  Court’s Greenlight for Settlement Hardly Signals Battle’s End As Merchants Gird for Appeals

  Retailers, and the trade associations representing them, that are opposed to a $5.7 billion settlement of a class-action antitrust case challenging credit card interchange rates are contesting federal judge John Gleeson’s affirmation Friday of the settlement amount. Defendants in the 8-year-old litigation, which was heard in the District Court of …
• 13 December

  Federal Court Issues OK for Multibillion-Dollar Credit Card Interchange Settlement

  Capping years of complex litigation, a federal court on Friday approved a controversial multibillion-dollar settlement of a class-action antitrust case challenging credit card interchange rates. With his imprimatur, Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has brought apparent—but only apparent—finality to a …
• 12 December

  Apple, Shopkick Among First to Deploy Bluetooth LE for Commerce; PayPal’s Closing in

  A wireless connectivity standard known as Bluetooth Low Energy appears to be getting a high-energy reception in payments and commerce. Apple Inc. is among the first to put the technology to use in its stores. On-the-spot rewards company Shopkick is testing it in two Macy’s stores, one in New York …
• 11 December

  Debit Networks Form Organization to Work on EMV As Court Mulls Durbin Decision

    Ten U.S. debit networks have formed the Debit Network Alliance LLC, an organization meant to ensure they have a competitive stake in the debit industry following the U.S. payment-industry migration to the EMV chip card standard, expected within a couple of years. The new group has sprung up as …