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The huge data breach at Target Corp. and now one at upscale department store Neiman Marcus Group and possibly other retailers has introduced many Americans to the term “EMV” and the possibility that more secure Europay-MasterCard-Visa chip cards will replace vulnerable magnetic-stripe credit and debit cards in the United States. …
Read More »Eye on Transit: A New Fare System for D.C.; New York Ponders a MetroCard Successor
America’s mass-transit systems in early 2014 are continuing their migration away from proprietary fare systems and toward so-called open-fare systems that can accept general-purpose payment cards as well as mobile payments. This week, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, locally known as Metro, awarded a $184 million, 8-year contract to …
Read More »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 …
Read More »Interchange Relief And Other Carrots Needed To Spur U.S. EMV Conversion, Analyst Says
Europay-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) chip cards will come to the U.S., but probably not before the payment card networks postpone current deadlines and offer strong incentives for merchants that might include interchange relief and dumping the signature as a cardholder- verification method, according to a new research report from Celent LLC. Card …
Read More »Postponement of October 2015 U.S. EMV Liability Shift Is Likely, a DTN Poll Finds
The first major deadline in the transformation of U.S. credit and debit cards from magnetic-stripe tokens to smart cards embedded with a chip is just under two years away. Come October 2015, the liability for fraudulent transactions shifts to merchants that do not support the chip card standard EMV. n …
Read More »Official Calls the Rollout of Chicago’s Ventra Fare-Payment Program a ‘Systemic Failure’
It’s been one bump after another for the Chicago Transit Authority’s new Ventra fare-payment system that includes a contactless prepaid MasterCard Inc. card. The latest came today when the chairman of a Chicago-area transportation oversight board dubbed Ventra’s rollout a “systemic failure” and called for an audit of the fare …
Read More »New AnywhereCommerce Card Reader is Smaller and Cheaper than Its Predecessor
AnywhereCommerce, a Montreal-based engineering firm, has released an updated version of its Nomad wireless chip-card reader that is smaller and less expensive than the inaugural version of the device, the company announced Tuesday. Nomad 2.0 uses Bluetooth wireless technology to connect with mobile devices operating on Google Inc.’s Android, Apple …
Read More »Ingenico Debuts an EMV-Capable Mobile Acceptance Service, with U.S. Launch in 2014
Payment-terminal maker Ingenico S.A. is debuting the Roam Mobile Commerce Manager in eight nations, including the United States in early 2014. The service is currently available in Mexico, France, Belgium, Italy, Australia, Brazil, and Norway. Details about the U.S. version of Mobile Commerce Manager will be available once it launches …
Read More »A New Harbortouch POS Terminal Incorporates EMV and NFC Payments
Independent sales organization Harbortouch has released a new payment terminal that incorporates near-field communication, a smart card reader and a magnetic-stripe reader. Dubbed Perkwave, the terminal, which carries no cost except for transactions processed through it, includes a contactless card reader adorned with a consumer-facing display. Point-of-sale device maker …
Read More »Court’s Overturning of the Fed’s Durbin Rule Resurrects ‘Alternative B’ for Routing
By Jim Daly B is back. That is, what the Federal Reserve Board back in 2011 dubbed “Alternative B” for implementing the transaction-routing requirements in the Dodd-Frank Act’s Durbin Amendment. Alternative B would have required each debit card to provide the merchant access to at least two signature and two …
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