Merchant

Imagine a small-business owner toiling over a stack of checks in a tiny back office. Pen in hand, the overworked entrepreneur laboriously scratches the information from each check onto a deposit slip. Eventually, the paperwork finished, he puts the lock on the door, trudges to the bank and stands in line to make his deposit.

Declines in same-store sales at small and midsize businesses appear to be easing up, suggests the Small Business Credit Sales Report.

Ingenico SA is supplying point-of-sale hardware and transaction-processing and terminal-management services to McDonald’s Australia Ltd., the France-based terminal maker announced Nov. 2. Terms were not disclosed.

U.S. home foreclosures fell in October as banks put a freeze on auctions of homes in default to review loan documents in wake of a recent "robo-signing" controversy.

USA Technologies Inc. generated $4.4 million in total revenue during its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30, up 15.8% from $3.8 million during the same period last year, the provider of wireless payment acceptance announced Nov. 10. The company reported a net loss for the quarter of $1.9 million, an improvement from the $2.9 million loss a year earlier.

ISOs can differentiate themselves–or at least keep up with the competition–by offering merchants value-added business-to-business services that track payroll, inventory and marketing. B2B services sometimes earn ISOs a profit, but often they serve as loss leaders.

Declines in same-store sales at small and midsize businesses appear to be easing up, suggests the Small Business Credit Sales Report.

Ingenico SA is supplying point-of-sale hardware and transaction-processing and terminal-management services to McDonald’s Australia Ltd., the France-based terminal maker announced Nov. 2.

The total number of consumer statute lawsuits filed in the Oct. 16-31 period reached 503, a slight increase from 497 in the first half of October and bringing the month's total to 1,000, according to data from U.S. District Courts.

Preferred Financial Solutions Inc., an Indianapolis-based debt settlement company, has paid $175,000 to West Virginia as part of a settlement with the state's attorney general involving its operations.