Merchant

The Republic of Botswana’s First National Bank has launched a mobile wallet for its customers in the African country, a spokesperson for the bank tells PaymentsSource.

WASHINGTON — As Congress continues to struggle over whether to delay a pending Federal Reserve Board plan to cap interchange fees for debit cards, a key question remains unresolved: How far is the central bank prepared to go on its own to modify the rule?

Sears Holding Corp.’s Kmart department stores have begun offering an improved version of Western Union Co.’s walk-in bill payment service.

Acculynk Inc. has put its independent sales organization reseller program on the backburner as it focuses on its core business, but at least one observer believes the company’s PaySecure Internet-PIN debit product is still a valuable add-on service for merchant acquirers.

Selling mobile-processing services can prove quite profitable for independent sales organizations, observers say.

Richard Davis, the top executive at U.S. Bancorp and chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable, told analysts April 19 it is a toss-up as to whether the Federal Reserve Board would press ahead with its proposed 12-cent cap on debit card interchange.

Richard Davis, the top executive at U.S. Bancorp and chairman of the Financial Services Roundtable, told analysts April 19 it is a toss-up as to whether the Federal Reserve Board would press ahead with its proposed 12-cent cap on debit card interchange.

A U.S. appellate court has approved Minnesota’s TCF Bank’s request for an expedited appeal of a lower court ruling denying a bid to block the Federal Reserve’s final rule on interchange charges, setting up a three-way race between the courts, the Fed and Congress on the controversial effort to limit the lucrative fees.

The Obama administration announced Friday the release of a strategy to protect consumer and business identities in cyberspace.

The availability of NFC smartphones — an ingredient many say is necessary for mobile payments systems to take off — may be a less onerous problem by 2014, a report from Juniper Research said.