Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
The 870-page tome of proposed rules issued Nov. 13 by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to govern prepaid cards may end up benefitting the top prepaid card issuers, says securities-rating agency Fitch Ratings. The regulations would require so-called “Know Before You Owe” disclosures and aim to improve consumers’ access to account …
November, 2014
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25 November
Merchants May Need a Map To Navigate Multiple Token Schemes: Analyst
No doubt merchants and the payments industry understand the value of removing valuable cardholder data from merchant payment systems via tokenization. Doing so, however, may complicate merchants\' data-security practices and carry costs, suggests Avivah Litan, vice president and analyst at advisory firm Gartner Inc., in a blog post. Tokenization …
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25 November
E-Commerce Spending for November Up 11% Over 2013, comScore Reports
Electronic-commerce spending from work and home desktop computers from Nov 1-23 hit $17.5 billion, up 11% from $15.8 billion in the same period a year earlier, Internet metrics firm comScore Inc. reported Tuesday. Most e-commerce spending is charged to credit and debit payment cards, so the early results for the …
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24 November
Gift Cards Top Holiday Wish Lists, With Total Spending Estimated at $31.74 Billion
Consumers want gift cards this holiday season, but are reluctant to ask for them, finds a survey from CashStar Inc., a Portland, Maine-based company that specializes in e-coupons and digital gift cards. Meanwhile the National Retail Federation forecasts that consumers will spend $31.74 billion on gift cards this holiday …
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24 November
Three Years After Durbin, Debit Pricing Flaw Still Drives up Cost for Small-Ticket Sellers
Three years after the Durbin Amendment took effect, the law’s painful impact on the cost of selling soda, candy, newspapers, and other small-ticket items remains an issue. And things may stay that way unless the newly elected Congress acts after taking office at the turn of the year, observers say. …
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21 November
Stress on Data Helps Swipely Hit $4-Billion Mark in Processing Volume
Merchant-services provider Swipely Inc. says it is now managing more than $4 billion in annual sales generated by its restaurant, hospitality, and retail clients, representing a four-fold increase over 2013, the company says. Providence, R.I.-based Swipely chief executive Angus Davis says the company’s three-pronged sales approach helps. In addition …
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21 November
OrderWithMe Debuts Service To Help Small Merchants Counter Showrooming
Consumers walking around stores with their smart phones in hand often send a potentially troublesome signal to many retailers. The shoppers could be shopping an online retailer’s site while using the brick-and-mortar merchant’s store as a showroom. It’s a phenomenon that Las Vegas-based OrderWithMe Inc. says it can help …
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21 November
MasterCard: Sub-Merchants Don’t Need To Own Accounts Until Volume Hits $1 Million
In what observers say indicates a growing acceptance of merchant aggregation by payment networks, MasterCard Inc. has increased by 10 times the charge-volume threshold at which a so-called sub-merchant must get its own merchant account. In addition, MasterCard’s recent rule changes preserve back-office settlement procedures that, had the old $100,000 …
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21 November
USA Technologies Clinches a New Interchange Deal With Visa for Debit And Credit
USA Technologies Inc. on Friday announced it had secured a three-year agreement with Visa Inc. that will allow the supplier of payments technology for vending machines to continue receiving favorable small-ticket interchange pricing from the network. In the announcement, contained in a brief regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange …
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20 November
Canadians Eschew Mobile Payments, For Now: Survey
Mobile payments in Canada only garner 2% of all consumer purchases, finds a study from research firm GfK. But that does not signal the low adoption rate will continue. Only 21% of Canadian shoppers, defined as those who have shopped in one of 15 product categories in the past …