Merchant

What’s good for one should be good for all, a growing list of merchants and others that accept credit cards in South Korea contend.

Executives from merchant-funded rewards companies dislike the title attached to the service they provide.

Starbucks Corp.’s ability to integrate its closed-loop prepaid card with a loyalty program has helped drive customer usage of the company’s smartphone application to make mobile payments, notes one industry observer.

By upgrading its compliance-reporting software, ControlScan Inc. plans to save independent sales organizations and merchant acquirers time and money when helping small-business merchants remain compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, the data-security program provider announced Dec. 2.

Citigroup Inc.’s lucrative partnership with American Airlines is widely expected to weather the carrier’s bankruptcy process.

Casio Computer Co. Ltd. plans to make available in February a handheld payment terminal designed for public employees who need to take card payments and provide printed receipts, the electronic devices manufacturer announced Dec. 1.

Payment card-based merchant-funded incentives are saturating the market, leading observers to predict market consolidation among service providers could occur soon.

Opportunities for new business are arising in Canada’s acquiring market as independent sales organizations work to develop an ISO model there, according to a report released last week by Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator Advisory Group Inc.

About 40% of the retailers and restaurant operators that sign up for merchant services with United Bank Card Inc. are getting free point-of-sale systems as part of the deal.

The Salvation Army says it is too soon to know how effective Square Inc.’s mobile payment card reader might be in securing donations at its bell-ringer locations.