Economy

Independent sales organizations should concentrate on making their Internal Revenue Service reporting more efficient and merchant friendly instead of trying to turn it into a profit center, says a tax-compliance service provider.

Accepting card payments with a mobile phone is becoming as American as baseball and apple pie now that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is selling the Square Inc. reader that turns any smartphone into a card-acceptance device.

Marketing analysts who consider mobile access the future of loyalty programs for retailers and restaurants are watching closely to see how consumers respond to new mobile apps linking card purchases to rewards credits.

Call it consumer angst. Customers are considering leaving financial institutions that add debit card fees, the results of a new consumer survey suggest.

When merchants fail to qualify for a cash advance because of bankruptcies, liens, foreclosures, credit scores below 550 or undesirable Standard Industrial Classification codes, independent sales organizations can turn to a handful of companies that specialize in the “decline” market.

Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide, sued recently by independent ATM operators and the National ATM Council over ATM fees the operators say violate federal antitrust laws, are the target of two new suits brought by consumers regarding their ATM charges.

WASHINGTON– U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is calling on Wells Fargo & Co. to explain why it needs to impose new debit card fees when it posted a 21% increase in third quarter profits.

The acquiring industry is outsourcing some of the work involved with a new requirement to report merchants’ transactions to the Internal Revenue Service, a task some have characterized as worse than a bad dream.

Bank of America Corp. does not fear losing customers because of its controversial $5 monthly debit fee, Brian Moynihan, BofA CEO, recently told analysts.

With e-commerce becoming a bigger target for payment data theft, Global Payments Inc. intends to provide online merchants with another set of fraud-detection tools.

Merchants that use credit card terminals that do not accept PIN transactions or use mobile card readers can have the devices tested for the use of advanced encryption for data protection, says the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

WASHINGTON — One day after introduction of a bill to repeal the new debit interchange cap, supporters of that cap struck back Oct. 13 by calling for an antitrust investigation into whether banks and trade groups are colluding on prices.

Nearly 350 members of the merchant-acquiring industry have applied to take the first test for the new Certified Payments Professional credential developed and administered by the Electronic Transactions Association.

Merchant Warehouse Inc. has found a way to help clear up identification discrepancies that interfere with new Internal Revenue Service reporting requirements.

Independent ATM operators and a trade association are charging in a lawsuit against Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide that the networks’ rules unlawfully prohibit ATM operators from offering lower prices for transactions over PIN-debit networks that are not affiliated with the two companies.

Seeking to become a major player in the growing school-meals payments arena, a Heartland Payment Systems, Inc. unit has announced the purchase of School-Link Technologies Inc., its fourth such acquisition in the last 10 months.

U.S. Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Congressman Bill Owens (D-New York) plan to introduce legislation today aimed at repealing the debit card interchange rate-control provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the lawmakers announced.

A slight increase in the cost of processing purchases of less than $15 with a small issuer’s Visa debit card may prompt merchants to encourage customers to pay with cash, thus reducing residuals for ISOs and agents, industry observers say.