Merchant

A directive earlier this month from Visa Inc. designed to motivate merchants to support the EMV chip card standard for U.S. cards and payment terminals may spark a cottage industry in EMV training seminars and consulting.

Independent sales organizations have a new opportunity to sign up merchants for a low-cost service that helps consumers pay bills, transfer funds internationally, reload prepaid card accounts and buy minutes for their cell phones.

Viewing the world of bloggers as a potential retail landscape, Jumio Inc. has broadened the availability of its webcam credit card reader software to anyone using a WordPress Foundation website, the company CEO says.

As Visa Inc. has been ramping up its promotion of one-time-use card data for security, Discover Financial Services is winding down its support of a similar technology.

In a move exemplifying efforts to move more cash and check payments to credit and debit cards, a national social network of babysitters and parents called SitterPals.com has signed up to use Square Inc.’s service to accept credit card payments for their services, the company announced Aug. 31.

In announcing during the past week a deal to provide terminals capable of accepting mobile payments at hypermarkets in the Czech Republic and the acquisition of a terminal-servicing company in Italy, Ingenico SA flexed its muscles in the wake of the recent acquisition by VeriFone Systems Inc. of most of Hypercom Corp.’s non-U.S. assets, an industry analyst says.

The wireless carriers involved in mobile-payments venture Isis reportedly plan to invest more than $100 million into the project.

Consumers have filed 7,923 lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors this year through August 15, a record-setting pace that easily tops the 7,169 lawsuits filed through the year-ago period.

Intuit Inc.’s deal to sell its GoPayment software application and card reader at Verizon Wireless stores could significantly accelerate competition in the fast-growing market for smaller-ticket mobile payments, one analyst suggests.

Tio Networks Corp. is looking for independent sales organizations willing to buy and set up “reverse ATMs” that collect money instead of dispensing it.