Pricing

The severity and length of the recession makes it likely banks will be able to raise fees for last-minute online bill payments, recent research says. That will mean more revenue for financial institutions that have been seeking ways to make money from electronic bill payments, a service they've generally been …

If mobile-payments services are finding a niche anywhere right now, it appears to be in the market for digital goods like games and social-network applications. Palo Alto, Calf.-based Zong Inc., which began operations last year, announced this week that the processing platform it shares with its parent company, Echovox Inc., …

The concept of using so-called smart phones as mobile credit card terminals started getting headlines less than a year ago, and the experience of one independent sales organization that has developed software applications for the mobile devices shows just how rapidly handsets like iPhones and BlackBerrys are taking root in …

Buffeted by strong economic headwinds, U.S. airlines are looking at a variety of ways to slow the seemingly inexorable rise of card-acceptance costs, as borne out by two separate developments in recent days. United Air Lines Inc. said on Monday it is putting off for up to 60 days a …

Acquirers and independent sales organizations have plenty of opportunity to build transaction volume with merchants despite the economic downturn. They just need to work harder at incentives for merchants to accept cards instead of cash or checks and on satisfying merchant needs, according to a new research report released Wednesday …

7-Eleven Inc. has gathered between 1 million and 1.2 million signatures on in-store petitions asking Congress to regulate interchange rates, and expects to have 3 million customer signatures by the time the petition drive ends Aug. 10, according to an executive with the Dallas-based convenience-store chain. The response, says Keith …

A sweeping new report from a Canadian Senate committee recommends the federal government create a payment-system oversight board, ban percentage-based debit card interchange for three years, and permit merchants to surcharge for card transactions. Those are just some of the proposals in the report as Canada confronts many of the …

MasterCard Inc. plans to pay off its remaining $400 million settlement obligation to retailers over debit card acceptance early for a discounted $335 million, according to a filing the card network made on Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Attorneys for the retailer plaintiffs have signed on to the …

NYCE Payments Network LLC expects to start testing Internet-based debit transactions by the end of the year and to start a commercial service some time next year, says Steven A. Rathgaber, president and chief operating officer of the Secaucus, N.J.-based electronic funds transfer network. The service will rely on single-use …

A move by United Air Lines Inc. to shift to certain travel agents the costs and other responsibilities for ticket sales on credit cards has the industry in an uproar and has prompted a leading trade association to file a letter with the U.S. Department of Justice asking the agency …