Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Apple Inc.’s introduction of its new Apple Pay service for its soon-to-be released iPhone 6 and the Apple Watch raised a huge number of questions in the payments industry. One of the biggest topics of speculation is just how is Apple going to make money from the service, with combines …
Read More »Looking To Expand Beyond Digital Markets, Boku Gets a Read on Magazine Subscriptions
Ever since the carrier-billing model for mobile payments found a foothold in the digital-goods market several years ago, processors have tested various tactics to broaden the range of goods the model could be applied to. The latest example is San Francisco-based Boku Inc. and its announcement Thursday that it will …
Read More »As Card-Industry Use of Tokens Increases, MasterCard Plans “Digital Enablement” Fees
MasterCard Inc. is planning new “digital enablement” fees, one for merchant acquirers and the other for card issuers, that will generate revenue for the network as mobile payments and the use of tokens that substitute for actual payment card numbers increase. The fees are outlined in recent MasterCard bulletins for …
Read More »The Big-Ticket Mercury Acquisition Already Starts to Pay Dividends for Processor Vantiv
Vantiv Inc.’s $1.65 billion acquisition in May of Mercury Payment Systems LLC appears to be paying off already. In the second quarter, Cincinnati-based Vantiv said Mercury accounted for approximately 5% of the payment processor’s net revenue growth. Vantiv’s second-quarter revenue increased 11.6% to $331.3 million from $296.9 million a …
Read More »Making a Decent Profit Gets Tougher for Retail ATM Deployers
Non-bank ATM operators, which run an estimated 52% of the nation’s approximately 412,000 ATMs, are struggling to maintain profitability as revenues come under pressure and costs continue to rise, according to a recent study of U.S. ATM deployers by Tremont Capital Group Inc. and the ATM Industry Association. On the …
Read More »Merchants That Opted out of the Big Interchange Settlement Will Get a Second Chance
Merchants that elected not to take a share of the $5.7 billion settlement to resolve a massive credit card interchange case against Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and some banks will be given a chance to opt back into a share of the damages under a plan being crafted by lawyers. …
Read More »New MasterCard Rules on Fee Disclosures May Catch Many Payment Processors Unaware
Two MasterCard Inc. rules governing fee changes and disclosures may catch many in the payment industry unaware even though the rules first became known in December. That is the assessment of attorneys Howard Herndon and Josh Rosenblatt at Frost Brown Todd LLC, a Nashville, Tenn.-based firm. “Typically, acquiring banks and …
Read More »Opening Its Developer Platform, SimplyTapp Seeks to Ease Cloud-Based NFC for Issuers
The startup that popularized a cloud-based approach to mobile payments using near-field communication (NFC) on Monday opened to card issuers and mobile-application providers a developer platform that could make it cheaper and easier to include digital cards in mobile apps. The platform, from Austin, Texas-based SimplyTapp Inc., offers tools specific …
Read More »Retailer Trade Groups Seek To Overturn Judge’s Approval of Interchange Settlement
Two retailer organizations dissatisfied with a $5.7 billion settlement of a class-action antitrust case alleging unfair credit card interchange rates have filed the next step in their appeal of the settlement. The National Retail Federation and the Retail Industry Leaders Association said Monday they filed a joint brief with the …
Read More »Beyond Credit Scores: Affirm Launches Deferred And Installment Credit for Online Sales
Transactional credit providers have been few and far between. Bill Me Later launched 14 years ago and was snapped up by eBay Inc. in 2008. BillFloat Inc. started up four years ago and has changed its name to Better Finance Inc. It’s a challenging business requiring close attention to funding costs and …
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