News

November, 2008

• 17 November

  The PCI Council Starts a Quality-Control Program for Assessors

  The PCI Security Standards Council on Monday introduced a quality-assurance program for the companies that determine whether a merchant, processor, or other entity that touches credit and debit card data meets the council's rules. The Wakefield, Mass.-based council's aim is to ensure more uniform enforcement of the Payment Card Industry …
• 13 November

  Startup Kount Looks to Chase Paymentech Deal for Accelerated Growth

  Kount Inc., a startup that specializes in anti-fraud solutions for e-commerce, is looking for accelerated growth from its alliance with Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, the nation’s largest processor of card-not-present transactions. The agreement, which was signed in September but not announced until this week, gives Kount access to Chase’s merchant …
• 13 November

  Shell Seeks to Cut Acceptance Costs, Pump Up Loyalty With ACH Card

  In what it calls a first for a major oil company, the U.S. subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc in January plans to offer a PIN-based consumer debit card that uses the automated clearing house network, gives consumers a discount on gas, and costs Shell's retail outlets 40 cents per …
• 12 November

  A Sour Economy Won’t Hurt Online Shopping?Or Alternative Payments

  Retail sales are slumping and stores are closing, but the online retailing channel?and thereby online payment transaction volumes?will come through relatively unscathed, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy and Research. Javelin's latest online retail payments forecast predicts Internet retail purchases will total $148 billion this year, up 10.4% …
• 11 November

  A Big ISO Seeks to Help Merchants Sort out Myriad Business Systems

  North American Bancard, one of the nation's biggest independent sales organizations, has established a new division it hopes will help merchants navigate tricky technological waters beyond payment processing, thereby increasing merchant loyalty. Troy, Mich.-based North American says the purpose of its new Alliance Division is to forge relationships with software …
• 11 November

  MoneyGram May Struggle for Traffic on Vcoms, Expert Warns

  MoneyGram International Inc.'s deal with Cardtronics Inc. to process remittances and bill payments on more than 2,000 sophisticated kiosks Cardtronics operates in 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores may extend MoneyGram's reach, but at least one observer questions whether the service will get the traffic the Minneapolis-based money-transfer company is expecting. “I …
• 10 November

  Electronic Payments Are Poised To Ride Out Economic Storms

  The electronic-payments industry can expect the well-established consumer shift away from credit cards and toward debit and prepaid cards to continue in today's turbulent economic climate, but other changes are afoot as the financial landscape rapidly changes, according to Maynard, Mass-based Mercator Advisory Group Inc. Some of the most significant …
• 6 November

  With Infonox, TSYS Acquiring Gears up for Boom in Transactions

  With its $50-million acquisition of Sunnyvale, Calif.-based software house Infonox Inc., TSYS Inc. has become one of a handful of transaction processors that are in the early stages of overhauling and upgrading their acquiring operations to support what many experts view as a coming explosion of volume as new payment …
• 6 November

  How US Dataworks Hopes to Grease the Skids for Remote Capture

  The rapid deployment of remote deposit capture technology has not been without some hassles and roadblocks, according to US Dataworks Inc., a Sugar Land, Texas-based processor that says it has developed a solution that solves at least some of those problems and paves the way for even more rapid penetration …
• 5 November

  First Data-InComm Deal Appears To Be Casualty of Economic Tailspin

  A slumping economy appears to have been what scuttled First Data Corp.’s deal to buy prepaid card program manager InComm Corp. The agreement, announced in April (Digital Transactions News, April 29), involved transaction-processing giant First Data acquiring Atlanta-based InComm for $980 million, with a further payout of $250 million over …