Analytics

Merchants face a confusing onslaught of terminal updates, encryption, tokenization and EMV, placing organizations like the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) in the role of trying to make sense of the changes.

U.S.-based payment processor Total System Services (TSYS) has launched a service called Chip Card on Demand that provides issuers the option to add EMV chips to compatible magstripe cards during the production process.

IHL, which tracks retail payment trends, has slammed EMV in a recent report, calling it "a colossal waste of time, effort and capital to the retail industry."

There have been various media reports about some of the security shortcomings within Apple Pay. The shortcomings are not security holes per se, in the sense that a hole is generally unintended. No, the security issues were deliberate, done with the goal of making signups and initial usage as easy as possible for shoppers.

Buyout firm Abraaj Group is working with Bank of America Corp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase Inc. as it plans an initial public offering of its stake in a credit-card processing business, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Commerce Bancshares in Kansas City, Mo., has established relationships with several new organizations, including environmental groups and universities, to offer co-branded credit cards.

American Express Co. has to spend more on its credit-card rewards program if the lender wants to remain competitive with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. products, according to Nomura Holdings Inc.

As cards include more embedded technology, issuers and manufacturers face the tough question of how much card power to sacrifice for stronger fraud protection.

It comes as a shock to few people that we’re currently in a period of high fraud, in an environment that can be characterized with words like “high risk” and “unstable.”

After suffering a major data breach in 2008 when hackers infiltrated its payment processing network, Heartland Payment Systems took great efforts to become the poster child for digital security. But thieves found another way in.