Technology

The difference between Mophie LLC’s payment card reader for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and similar products competitors have debuted is that Mophie’s Marketplace product will work with any merchant account, according to the Paw Paw, Mich.-based provider of technology accessory products such as smartphone batteries. Retailers can set up a merchant account through Mophie or use an existing account, and “this is the main difference between the Marketplace and competitors,” says a company spokesperson.

Total System Services Inc. plans to use mobile phones to gain a larger foothold in micropayments, Ashim Banerjee, the U.S.-based transaction processor’s chief information officer for TSYS Acquiring Solutions, tells PaymentsSource.

Visa Inc.’s devotion to signature-based contactless transactions has caused one large retailer to take a stand against the card network, and it also poses an obstacle to adoption of EMV cards in the United States, says an industry analyst.

Global Payments Inc.’s North American merchant-services revenue grew 10.5% during the payment processor’s second quarter. ISOs largely drove the growth with their “strong performance ... as evidenced by U.S. transaction growth of 19%,” Paul Garcia, Global chairman and CEO, said during a conference call with analysts last week.

The number of small business owners who believe the economy is getting worse declined in December compared with November, according to survey data from Discover Financial Services.

The Federal Reserve earned $45 billion last year, money that will be returned to the U.S. Treasury. The dollar figure is the highest recorded in the 96-year history of the central bank and the numbers are good news for the federal budget.

Inside Contactless is working with another France-based contactless-technology firm to develop kiosks and electronic wallets that use Near Field Communication, an Inside spokesperson tells PaymentsSource.

MasterCard Worldwide today announced the availability of a merchant data service called MasterCard Advisors Merchant Solutions.

Total online transactions and spending volume in the U.S. rose again during the recent holiday shopping season compared with a year earlier, while the average transaction amount fell for the second consecutive year, according to new data Chase Paymentech released Jan. 12.

If the banking industry was seeking clarity on the trend in consumer loan delinquencies, it did not receive it in the latest American Bankers Association data.