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Discover Financial Services LLC's new merchant-processing pact with leading payment processor First Data Corp. that involves small and mid-sized merchants is just the first of more deals Riverwoods, Ill.-based Discover plans to strike with big merchant acquirers to expand acceptance of the No. 4 card brand while simultaneously reducing costs. …
Read More »41st Parameter Casts a Wider Net for Its Anti-Fraud Technology
Flush with new funding, anti-fraud software developer The 41st Parameter this week embarked on the next phase of its growth plan by introducing PCPrint, a component of its fraud-detection technology that the company will offer to vendors, processors, and other firms involved in e-commerce. In fact, Ori Eisen, founder and …
Read More »Image Volume Mounts Steadily for SVPCO As It Courts Smaller Banks
In a sign that check image exchange continues to make steady progress, SVPCO has reported its national network processed 56.5 million items in June, an 11.1% increase over May's volume. Total dollar volume for the month reached $157 billion, up 4% over May. Daily average items, a keenly watched indicator, …
Read More »PCI Expert Cautiously Optimistic As Compliance Rate Looks to Climb
Of 232 large U.S. merchants identified by Visa USA in 2004 and 2005, some 23% now comply with the Payment Card Industry data-security standard (PCI), but 73% are projected to be in compliance by the end of the year “based on progress reports,” says Michael Dahn, president of Volubis Inc., …
Read More »End of First Data Net Saga Sets up FDC To Get Payments from Visa
Visa USA and payment-processing giant First Data Corp. on Wednesday announced a settlement in a 4-year-old legal dispute that apparently puts an end to First Data Net, a high-profile initiative of First Data's former top official, and also appears to set up FDC to receive payments from Visa to help …
Read More »Pressure Builds in Congress To Address Data-Security Breaches
With the loss or theft of computerized personal information making headlines almost daily, lawmakers are scrambling for solutions for what is shaping up to be the 21st Century's hottest non-violent crime. More than a dozen bills that would put new requirements on banks and other entities with access to sensitive …
Read More »Wachovia Exposes Latest Card Fraud, But More Banks Likely Ensnared
Wachovia Corp., some of whose debit card holders have been victimized by a data breach that happened several months ago, began sending notices and replacement cards to those customers recently because it began to see signs of fraud after months of monitoring the accounts, the bank says. Although Wachovia's action …
Read More »Tech-Savvy Scheme Loots Millions from Montreal Debit Accounts
Canadian police arrested 10 people Tuesday they say used rigged card terminals to intercept PINs as cardholders entered them at the point of sale as part of a scheme in which they stole $4 million (Canadian) from 18,000 customer bank accounts. More arrests are expected, according to the authorities. In …
Read More »Observers Split over How Much Google Will Compete with PayPal
With online search giant Google Inc. reportedly a week away from launching its long-expected payment service, observers differ on the question of whether the service will allow merchants to accept electronic payments on their own sites or be limited to Google's own platforms, especially the rapidly growing Google Base online …
Read More »An Online Boom: Phishing Numbers Hit New Highs in May
The number of unique phishing attacks and the population of Web sites involved in the online fraud both hit all-time highs in May, following a disturbing trend of dramatic month-to-month increases since late 2005, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group. Reports of unique attacks?discrete e-mail blasts sent to consumers by …
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