News

February, 2011

• 8 February

  How the Fed’s Durbin Proposals Could Ensnare Alternative-Payments Players

  A philosophical turn by the Federal Reserve Board, having to do with the definition of a “payment card network,” has already raised questions for PayPal Inc. and could have major implications for a wide range of other alternative-payment systems. “It’s a huge issue,” says Conrad Sheehan, chief executive of mPayy …
• 3 February

  ProPay Launches a Mobile App That Does What NFC Does, Only at a Little More Distance

  ProPay Inc. this week announced a mobile-payments product that lets consumers communicate with as well as pay merchants from a smart phone whether they are in the store or just nearby. The application, which ProPay calls Zumogo, works with a handful of restaurants in the company’s home state of Utah, …
• 3 February

  MasterCard’s Banga Points to Opportunities Arising from Durbin

  It’s bad for consumers and bad for the payments industry, but the Durbin Amendment that imminently will upend the U.S. debit card market still presents some opportunities for MasterCard Inc., according to the No. 2 payment network’s president and chief executive, Ajay Banga. Specifically, MasterCard could well pick up new …
• 2 February

  With Debit Booming, Visa Chief Says Durbin Throws Consumers ‘Under the Bus’

  With much of the country buried in snow and ice on Wednesday, Visa Inc. released transaction and charge-volume numbers that likely warmed the predilections of electronic-payments watchers. The leading card network reported U.S. credit and debit card payments volume of $493 billion for its first quarter of fiscal 2011 ended …
• 1 February

  New York’s Open-Fare Transit Plan Starts Down the Development Path

  After about four years of testing, the New York City area’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is beginning the process of building a fare-payment system based on general-purpose contactless cards. MTA officials tell Digital Transactions News that they plan to publish a so-called Concept of Operations, a document outlining the agency’s broad …
• 1 February

  With Bill Pay Added to e-Bills, Doxo Aims to Boost Digital Billing

  With more consumers paying bills electronically than are receiving them that way, a startup that lets consumers receive and store digital copies of their bills announced on Tuesday it is introducing a payment service aimed at closing that gap. Seattle-based doxo Inc., which in October launched a document-management service modeled …

January, 2011

• 27 January

  Seeking to Streamline Transactions, NACHA Drops Opt-Outs for ARC And BOC

  Starting in March, checks sent to lockboxes and some point of sale transactions can be processed by merchants and billers through the automated clearing house system without offering consumers a chance to opt out under new rules set by NACHA, the ACH’s regulatory organization. The new rules, which will be …
• 27 January

  Vancouver’s New Fare System Paves the Way for Contactless Bank Card Transit Payments

  Vancouver’s public-transportation authority has selected a $220 million fare-payment system from Cubic Transportation Systems Inc. that includes a transit-only reloadable contactless card but also the ability to accept general-purpose contactless cards. Replacing proprietary fare cards with systems that add transit capabilities to contactless credit and debit cards issued by banks …
• 27 January

  Eye on Earnings: TSYS Looks to Acquiring, AmEx Volume Jumps

  Payment processor Total System Services Inc. sees new opportunities in merchant acquiring while No. 3 credit card network American Express Co. saw a double-digit jump in charge volume in the fourth quarter, an indication of a possible revival in consumer spending. Boosted by its new business from merchant acquirer First …
• 27 January

  Western Union Extends Prepaid Cards to Retail Outlets Through InComm

  The Western Union Co. is stepping up its presence in the general-purpose reloadable prepaid card market with a new agreement to offer its MoneyWise Prepaid Card at InComm retail locations throughout the U.S. InComm, a marketer, processor, and distributor of stored-valued gift and prepaid cards, has partnerships with more than …