Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals

August, 2011

• 11 August

  Just As NFC Gains Impetus, An Analyst Casts Doubt on Supply of Phones

    With companies like Google Inc., Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc., and the major wireless carriers talking in recent months about near-field communication projects, observers could be forgiven for concluding that NFC-based mobile payments are poised for a breakthrough in the U.S. market. There could be just one problem: no NFC …
• 9 August

  A New Alphabet Soup, VARs and ISVs, Spells An Effective, But Expensive, Channel for Acquiring

    Merchant acquirers once relied on independent agents, direct sales, and agent bank relationships to sign up merchants. Now, a new group has entered the picture and is accounting for a rapidly increasing share of new merchant accounts. Value-added resellers and independent software vendors will enroll 15% of all new …
• 9 August

  Visa Tries To Juice EMV And Mobile Payments with New Initiatives

  Leading payment card network Visa Inc. on Tuesday announced three initiatives to spur adoption of so-called EMV contact and contactless chip cards and near-field communication (NFC) mobile payments in the U.S. Observers hailed Visa’s action, but noted that a full move to EMV and NFC mobile payments in the U.S. …
• 7 August

  Authorization, Processing Costs Drop, But Other Fees Climb for Acquirers, Study Shows

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• 4 August

  The DoJ Anoints Gores As the Designated Buyer of Hypercom’s U.S. Assets

  The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that it had reached a settlement with point-of-sale terminal makers VeriFone Holdings Inc. and Hypercom Corp. that calls for the sale of Hypercom’s U.S. assets to a unit of private-equity firm Gores Group LLC. The settlement removed an obstacle that held up VeriFone’s …
• 3 August

  Eschewing ‘Participation’ Fees, MasterCard Will Sweet-Talk Debit Issuers One by One

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• 3 August

  Malware And Spear-Phishing Soar, Helping To Drive Rise in Breaches

    While the payments business continues to fret about data breaches, new information emerged this week that helps explain how such pernicious leaks happen, and why they’re happening with increased frequency. While notable breaches like the one at Sony earlier this year steal headlines, cybercriminals are plundering accounts at organizations …
• 2 August

  S1 Spurns Takeover Offer from ACI, But ACI Says It Won’t Back off

    n As it did July 26 when it announced its takeover offer for S1, ACI also said it is “prepared to do what is necessary to make this [transaction] happen.” The ACI statement did not elaborate. Some observers speculate the Elkhorn, Neb,-based software company will return with a sweetened …
• 1 August

  Isis Backer Verizon Wireless Agrees to Add AmEx’s Serve to Phones And Tablets

    n n n n n n n New York City-based Payfone uses a consumer’s mobile-phone number to authorize purchases. AmEx led a $19 million investment in Payfone in April that included the investment arm of Verizon Communications, n
• 1 August

  DoJ Indicates Settlement Near in Antitrust Challenge to VeriFone-Hypercom Merger

    The U.S. Department of Justice indicated Monday that a settlement of its antitrust challenge to the planned acquisition by VeriFone Systems Inc., the leading U.S. point-of-sale terminal maker, of rival Hypercom Corp. could be reached by Aug. 30. A DoJ court filing, however, does not give details about any …