Merchant

Companies offering smartphone-enabled point-of-sale hardware and software applications are unlikely to capture business from providers of traditional wireless-payment terminals. The more likely outcome is that the two types of wireless devices will compliment each other, with the smartphone-enabled card acceptance attracting small mobile merchants that have avoided purchasing wireless terminals because of the cost, observers say.

As card readers that attach to mobile phones continue to make headlines in the payments space, an Austin, Texas-based software company is putting a new spin on the trend.

A Supreme Court decision yesterday could make it easier for consumers to sue collectors for sending erroneous collection notices.

Apriva is offering training and educational tools to its ISO resellers to help increase their knowledge of and ability to sell wireless smartphone-enabled point-of-sale products, according to the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based wireless-payments provider.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC is weighing its next steps as the merchant processor nears its one-year anniversary as a joint venture between Fifth Third Bancorp and Advent International Corp., a Boston-based investment firm.

Criminals increasingly are using prepaid cards to replace cash, and payment organizations should understand the risks associated with the trend, Susan Smith, senior trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, told attendees last week at the Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting and Expo in Las Vegas.

VeriFone Holdings Inc.’s upcoming VX point-of-sale terminals will be upgradeable to future Payment Card Industry security standards, the terminal maker says.

Though some merchants experienced severe financial difficulties during the recession and some went out of business, many others made prudent business decisions and scaled back spending to remain operational, Glenn S. Goldman, president and CEO of Capital Access Network Inc., told ISO&Agent Weekly last week at the Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting and Expo in Las Vegas.

Hypercom Corp. plans to use its new point-of-sale products for use with Apple Inc.’s iPhone not only to reach mobile merchants but also to target brick-and-mortar retailers that want to expedite client purchases and avoid long lines at sales registers, Stuart Taylor, Hypercom vice president of global solutions and marketing, told ISO&Agent Weekly last week at the Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting and Expo in Las Vegas.

Discover Financial Services has expanded acceptance of its cards at merchant locations in the United States to its satisfaction after opening its network to third-party acquirers in 2007. The company’s goal now is to raise merchants’ awareness that they can accept Discover cards and to expand operations globally, says Gerry Wagner, Discover vice president of global acceptance.