Merchant

Companies continue to release mobile point-of-sale acceptance services amid few, if any, signs of the trend abating.

Independent sales organizations and acquirers will have work to do because of the Federal Reserve Board’s impending regulations that will set policy for establishing “reasonable and proportional” debit card interchange rates, panelists at the Western States Acquirers Association conference in San Diego told attendees this week.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lawsuits spiked to 441 in the Sept. 16-30 period, compared to 390 in the first half of September, according to data from U.S. District Courts. The number of consumer statute lawsuits in the second half of the month totaled 481, up from 421 in the prior reporting period. The total includes 59 Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) lawsuits and 26 Truth-in-Lending Act cases.

Mobile payments settled over the automated clearinghouse system officially have entered the mobile-payments space, but not without sparking debate.

Card-skimming attacks are on the rise this year as crooks devise relatively simple, inexpensive new ways to compromise payment terminals, the Payment Council Industry Security Standards Council’s top technology executive told attendees last week at SourceMedia Inc.’s ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum.

Point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. says it will continue its attempts to buy Hypercom Corp., its Scottsdale, Ariz.-based rival, even though VeriFone’s $5.25-per-share offer is more than a $1 shy of Hypercom’s $6.35 closing price Tuesday.

Merchant acquirers once again may offer retailers dynamic currency conversion on Visa Inc.’s network now that the card brand has ended a six-month moratorium on expanded use of such services.

Global Payments Inc. this week reported $440.1 million in revenue for its fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 31, up 7.4% from $409.9 million in revenue during the same period last year.

Discover Financial Services said Wednesday that it had signed a merchant acquirer agreement with First National Bank Alaska.

Merchant acquirers once again will be able to offer merchants dynamic currency conversion on Visa Inc.’s network now that the card brand has ended a six-month moratorium on expanded use of such services.