Merchant

One of mobile payments’ lures for merchants may be the opportunity to deliver coupons, rewards and other customized marketing offers directly to consumers through mobile handsets at the point of sale. Wireless phones enabled with two-way Near Field Communication technology could ignite such marketing opportunities, experts believe.

Consumers filed lawsuits naming an estimated 545 different collection agencies and creditors during the first half of March, up from 471 in the last two weeks of February, according to data from U.S. District Court complaint dockets.

FrontStream Payments Inc. will double its annual transaction-processing volume to $2 billion following last week’s acquisition of Fast Transact Inc., a Lacey, Wash.-based independent sales organization, FrontStream CEO Emmet Seibels tells PaymentsSource.

Both novice and seasoned sales agents for independent sales organizations can have difficulty understanding exactly where they earn their revenue because not every ISO defines and pays residuals in the same way, note observers.

The weak economy, decreased transaction volumes and margin compression in the payments industry are increasing the importance of up-front revenue streams for independent sales organizations and their sales agents instead of revenue purely from residuals, industry insiders say.

Lawsuits filed in federal courts involving collection and credit issues surged in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 as more Americans struggled with foreclosures and consumer debt.

Ingenico SA, a France-based point-of-sale terminal maker, foresees a return to growth this year after posting declining revenue and profit results for 2009 compared with 2008.

Guest Column

A promoter of credit repair and debt relief services agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that he deceived consumers into paying thousands of dollars based on false promises that he could help fix their credit and debt problems. The $2.5 million settlement will be suspended because of the defendant's inability to pay.

Guest Column. From the March 2010 issue of ISO&Agent.