ISOs

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has scuttled a list of merchant categories that it said warranted heightened attention from processors.

CardConnect has developed a “one-stop” merchant portal that combines authorization and settlement data to help retailers track and manage transactions.

Mobile devices like tablets and smartphones are helping retailers increase profits, boost productivity and reduce costs.

Operation Choke Point, the federal government’s initiative to use the payments industry to thwart merchant fraud, is forcing ISOs to cope with lawsuits, subpoenas and uncertainty.

LOMBARD, Ill.—The Justice Department’s Operation Choke Point is making life difficult for certain types of merchants by intimidating the payments industry into denying transaction services, say's the ETA's Jason Oxman.

LOMBARD, Ill.—ISOs and agents face a crowded, confused marketplace where some of the last hold-outs are now accepting cards for payments, according to Kevin Jones, president and CEO of Anovia Payments.

The Justice Department's Operation Choke Point isn't really about combatting fraud, says Jason Oxman, CEO of the Electronic Transactions Association. Federal regulators simply don't like high-risk merchants, such as payday lenders and guns dealers, he says.

Clearent processed $4.4 billion in transaction volume last year, an increase of 61% over the previous 12 months.

BitPay, a Bitcoin merchant services provider, has launched a referral program to provide incentives to digital currency enthusiasts who sign up small merchants.

American Express’ network rules have deterred Discover from using lower interchange rates to lure more merchants, a high-ranking Discover executive testified in federal court.

U.S. consumers, whose use of revolving debt fell by more than 15% once the Great Recession hit, are finally re-embracing the credit card.

Optimistic predictions aside, many Americans remain unaware or even skeptial of paying with their smartphones.

A veteran acquiring executive describes recent changes at First Data Corp. as "the awakening of a sleeping giant" that has placed a renewed emphasis on independent sales organizations and sales agents.

The decision to deploy EMV chip-and-signature credit cards in the U.S., instead of the chip-and-PIN model common in other countries, has a lot to do with technology constraints.

A veteran acquiring executive describes recent changes at First Data Corp. as “the awakening of a sleeping giant.”

Independent Resource Network Corp., a Westbury, N.Y.-based independent sales organization, recently agreed to pay $400,000 and waived its right to funds in a merchant's reserve account to settle a civil suit brought by the Federal Trade Commission.

Independent Resource Network Corp., a Westbury, N.Y.-based ISO, has agreed to pay $400,000 and waived its right to funds in a merchant’s reserve account to settle a civil suit..

Using President Teddy Roosevelt’s “Square Deal” as inspiration, API Software Inc. has created an app ISOs can use to help merchants tabulate the best payment services deals.

Although smartphones and tablets are capturing the imagination of consumers, we haven’t even begun to relalize their potential value for merchants.

The financial services industry sets the pace for technology innovation. Wall Street’s role as an allocator of capital and the industry's need for massive amounts of data have a lot to do with that..