Merchant

Companies that install or manage payment-application software, such as that used in integrated point-of-sale terminals, can best protect their information by following a list of best practices Visa Inc. issued this week, the payments company contends.

Visa Inc.’s most recent statistics of merchant compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard shows that 100% of the largest U.S. merchants—those processing more than 1 million annual Visa transactions—have validated their point-of-sale systems as not storing prohibited data.

VeriFone Systems Inc. beat Wall Street’s expectations for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31 based on strong North American sales and a rebounding Latin American market, and executives at the payment-terminal maker predict demand for wireless payment systems and gas-station terminals will help drive future earnings.

Payment-terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. on Aug. 24 reported net income of $18.5 million for the fiscal third quarter ended July 31, up 11.5% from $16.6 million during the same period last year. Net revenues totaled $265.5 million, up 25.7% from $211.3 million and a company record, Douglas G. Bergeron, VeriFone CEO, noted in a news release.

The number of collection agencies and creditors sued between August 1-15 totaled 426, down from 488 sued in the July 16-31 period, but up from 389 in the first half of July, according to data from U.S. District Courts.

Companies that install or manage payment-application software, such as that used in integrated point-of-sale terminals, can best protect their information by following a list of best practices Visa Inc. issued today, the payments company contends.

The merchant-processing unit of Barclaycard UK in July experienced an almost double-digit increase in spending by its merchant clients’ credit and debit card customers in the United Kingdom compared with the same month last year, challenging the notion that consumer confidence has declined, Barclaycard announced recently.

Many PCI compliance programs that independent sales organizations and acquirers offer their merchants are beginning to prove their value, says Deana Rich, president of Van Nuys, Calif.-based Rich Consulting.

Payment processor RBS WorldPay Inc. has class A certified Way Systems Inc.’s way5000 mobile point-of-sale device for use on its network.

Twin brothers Zachary and Matthew Hyman this year have added more than 11,000 merchants to their San Rafael, Calif.-based Central Payment independent sales organization, putting them on track to reprise their success with a previous ISO.