Economy

Debit, it appears, still has some staying power, though market conditions are causing it to spasm.

Business owners no longer must scrawl their names and initials on paper when they sign up for merchant card-processing agreements.

Uncertainty, competition and even attacks. In 2012, ISOs face a year of danger and opportunity.

A Canadian ISO is offering its merchants a proprietary mobile-payment acceptance device that other Canadian ISOs also could sell.

Eager for growth after the recession’s chilling effect on borrowing, the acquiring industry may feel relieved to see Discover Financial Services reporting an uptick in credit card purchase volume for its fiscal fourth quarter.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. has regained its financial footing since its infamous 2008 security breach and the ensuing flood of lawsuits, but analysts say recent court rulings in the case leave some important liability issues unresolved.

VeriFone Systems Inc. has defied the headlines decrying gloom over the European debt crisis by enjoying continued growth in the region while continuing to expand payment-terminal installations rapidly in Latin America.

Could consumers’ fears about crooks intercepting their financial data and spying on their locations dampen adoption of mobile payments?

Heartland Payment Systems has signed a five-year expanded contract with ConocoPhillips, the merchant processor announced Dec. 14. The companies have worked together for 20 years.

First Data Corp. has introduced Global Gateway e4, an online payment gateway that offers what the company regards as safe and reliable processing for card-not-present transactions, the transaction processor announced Dec. 13.

The price of Slurpees has stubbornly remained the same despite new limits on debit card interchange, according to a survey by a payments-industry lobbying group.

Some 221 members of the acquiring industry took the exam for the Certified Payments Professional credential during the first round of testing, according to the Electronic Transactions Association, which expects test results later this week.

Payment card-based merchant-funded incentives are saturating the market, leading observers to predict market consolidation among service providers.

Opportunities for new business are arising in Canada’s acquiring market as independent sales organizations work to develop an ISO model there, according to a report released last week by Maynard, Mass.-based Mercator Advisory Group Inc.

Acquirers representing merchants such as coffee shops and quick-service restaurants may be paying more in interchange for some small-ticket transactions under the Federal Reserve Board’s reduced debit rates than they are for cards exempt from the new rate cap, notes an attorney who frequently deals with clients in the payments industry.

About 40% of the retailers and restaurant operators that sign up for merchant services with United Bank Card Inc. are getting free point-of-sale systems as part of the deal.

IVR Technology Group LLC’s Pay-by-Phone virtual terminal now can process check payments through a partnership with processor Global eTelecom Inc., the phone automation services provider announced Nov. 22.