Economy

France-based payment-service provider Aros Worldline plans to acquire India-based payment-services provider Venture Infotek Pvt. Ltd. for US$100 million. The acquisition would represent India’s largest-ever deal in the payments space, reports local newspaper Economic Times.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has dismissed a shareholder class-action lawsuit filed against some members of VeriFone Systems Inc.’s board of directors in 2007, according to the San Jose, Calif.-based terminal maker.

Mobile-marketing firm Mocapay Inc. this month announced a strategic partnership with ISO eNational Payments with the goal of helping merchants deliver customized coupons and other promotions to consumers via mobile handsets.

Now that they can do so without violating contracts, merchants are expected to more aggressively steer customers toward less-expensive payment methods in the coming months.

Companies that install or manage payment-application software, such as that used in integrated point-of-sale terminals, can best protect their information by following a list of best practices Visa Inc. issued this week, the payments company contends.

Visa Inc.’s most recent statistics of merchant compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard shows that 100% of the largest U.S. merchants—those processing more than 1 million annual Visa transactions—have validated their point-of-sale systems as not storing prohibited data.

Certain definitions within new Internal Revenue Service rules requiring payment processors and merchant acquirers to track merchants’ transactions and report them to the IRS beginning next year are creating additional hassles, some industry observers say.

Legions of potential investors are clamoring to buy a piece of the merchant-acquiring business, but most ISOs would prefer not to sell. Both camps appear to believe the industry represents a safe haven in hard times and a promising prospect during a recovery.

Vivotech Adding Encryption To Contactless Transactions

Paul A. Rianda is an attorney who has specialized in providing legal advice to the bankcard industry for more than 10 years. His e-mail is paul@riandalaw.com.

Enough is enough. Sales agents sometimes decide to sever their relationships with merchants who break rules, ask clueless questions, make unjustified demands, register wrong-headed complaints or bicker endlessly over prices and fees.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC on Aug. 6 agreed to sell a majority stake in its lucrative processing business, RBS WorldPay, to two private equity firms for more than $3 billion.

Pivotal Payments says its integration with Pinnacle Cart, Desert Dog Marketing LLC’s e-commerce software designed for merchants to use on their websites, could help its sales agents increase their revenue by attracting more merchants.

Guest column