Ed McKinley

Harbor Community Bank has signed an agreement to receive credit card acceptance, check-guarantee and recurring-payments services for hundreds of business clients through US Merchant Services Inc.

The companies plan to integrate Affirmative Technologies' ACHNow and ACH Risk Manager with Secure Vault Payments, a payment mode eWise and Nacha, the electronic payments association, make available, the companies said in a June 16 press release.

Payroll card providers may be missing an opportunity by failing to reach out enough to small businesses, according to survey data.

The Midwest Acquirers Association is forming local chapters to bring together acquiring industry employers and prospective employees, provide members with payments industry information and share tips on selling and promoting payment services.

Panoptic Security Inc. is offering to lease or sell complete software packages for compliance with the Payment Card Industry data security standard, an alternative to paying vendors a monthly fee for each merchant.

VeriFone Systems Inc. of San Jose, Calif., is working with Micros Systems Inc. of Columbia, Md., to provide the "first practical NFC communication service" for restaurants, said Michael L. Russo, Micros' chief technology officer.

PayCommerce Inc. has integrated its cloud-based payments platform for small to midsize businesses with commonly used software.

Two community banks have signed up for Secure Vault Payments, according to eWise Systems USA Inc., the Denver company working with Nacha, the electronic payments association, to offer the technology.

Payment terminal makers are planning a cloud-connected point of sale to allow the integration of social couponing and other new functions.

Cocard Marketing Group LLC, a Nashville, Tenn., independent sales organization with more than 90 offices across the nation, has renewed its card processing contract with National Processing Co. LLC of Louisville, Ky.

Merchant e-Solutions Inc. is rolling out a suite of mobile payment applications on its new PayEverywhere platform.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. is adding merchant accounts and processing more transactions for its established merchants, thanks to a sales streamlining and a healthier economy.

Square Inc. is making its smartphone magnetic stripe card reader available through Apple Inc.'s retail stores and website, but its rivals got there first.

MerchantService.com has joined the ranks of independent sales organizations using online videos to promote services to merchants.

The ATM Industry Association has published a best-practices guide for decommissioning automated teller machines at the end of their seven- to 10-year life span.

Transaction processor First Data Corp. has launched Fraud FlexDetect, an e-commerce fraud detection and prevention service, in collaboration with Accertify Inc.

The ATM Industry Association has replaced the phrase "ATM Independent Sales Organization" with IAD — Independent ATM Deployers.

Global Payments Inc. is trying to offset weak margins on its U.S. business by building strength abroad. In the near term that leaves the Atlanta merchant processor with solid revenue growth but flat income, according to an analyst.

Merchant processor Global Payments Inc. on Thursday reported net income of $47.8 million for its fiscal third quarter ended Feb. 28, down 1% from the same period last year.

On particularly harried days, debit card marketers may feel a little like circus ringmasters. No, they do not have to train debit cards to jump through flaming hoops, but they do have to put on a performance that alerts the public to the advantages debit cards offer.