ISOs

Stuart Harvey Jr., CEO of Atlanta-based Elavon Inc., is leaving the payment processor next month, Elavon says. Mike Passilla, Elavon executive vice president for global business development, will replace Harvey on Aug. 16 as president and CEO.

From the July/August 2010 issue of ISO&Agent magazine.

From the July/August 2010 issue of ISO&Agent magazine.

From the July/August 2010 issue of ISO&Agent magazine.

From the July/August 2010 issue of ISO&Agent magazine.

Merchant Warehouse Inc., a Boston-based ISO that offers software designed to help small retailers find the lowest-cost processing for card transactions, could benefit from Congress’ approval July 15 of the Dodd-Frank Act, says Henry Helgeson, the company’s co-CEO.

U.S. Bankcard Services Inc., an Industry, Calif.-based ISO, has added China UnionPay card acceptance to its list of merchant services.

Merchants unsure about which type of merchant account would be cheaper have another tool to use when deciding between a traditional merchant account, a Square Inc. mobile account and an online PayPal account.

Merchants do not need to retain a full 16-digit card number to resolve a transaction dispute, despite demands from some acquirers and processors, according to Visa Inc.

TransFirst In NBT Bank Deal

The allure of mobile payments, which Generator Research, a United Kingdom-based research firm, estimates will grow to an estimated $600 billion worldwide by 2014, has drawn AT&T Inc. into the fray, as have the merchants accepting payments via their phones. The telecommunication giant announced July 7 it will work with Apriva to sell the wireless-payments company’s AprivaPay and AprivaPay Professional mobile-payment services.

Merchants may pay recurring bills using a portion of their payment card settlement funds through PayFast, a service Integrity Payment Systems LLC launched earlier this month.

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.

ISOs looking to compete against free-terminal programs and to boost their profit margins may turn to Asia-made point-of-sale terminals.

New debit card interchange rules that are likely to go into effect next year if the Senate passes the financial services reform bill could take a bite out of ISOs’ profit margins, observers say.

Independent sales organizations looking to compete against free-terminal programs and to boost their profit margins may turn to Asia-made point-of-sale terminals.

Visa Inc. says it intends to work with merchants that fail to meet two July 1 payment-security deadlines.

A year or so from now, merchants likely will be paying less to accept debit cards, and financial institutions will be earning less revenue issuing them. And some issuers may have to reacquaint themselves with PIN-debit brands not associated with Visa Inc. or MasterCard Worldwide.

Suppose Congress approves the Dodd-Frank Act, and small issuers with less than $10 billion in assets are exempt from debit card-interchange rules the Federal Reserve Board eventually deems “reasonable and proportional.” How will merchants know whose debit cards are exempt?

Springbok Services Inc.’s recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing suggests the prepaid card market is beginning to enter into a period of uncertainty off the heels of new government regulation and slimming margins, observes one analyst.