Payment processing

Identity security and mobile payments are driving merger-and-acquisition activity in the payments industry as large companies strive to keep up with each other and the latest technology.

Increased consumer spending on credit cards in North America and Europe was enough to have executives from Total System Services Inc. singing the praises of solid fourth-quarter earnings and, for the time being, soft-pedaling the potential future loss of Green Dot Corp.’s processing business.

Green Dot Corp. has purchased some assets of eCommLink, allowing it to move its processing in-house, the Prepaid card marketer said Jan. 24.

Bank of America Corp. is working with Cardlytics Inc. to test an online rewards system called BankAmeriDeals.

Client-transaction volume increases fueled card processing revenue, resulting in a 7.3% increase in fourth quarter revenue for Total Systems Services Inc., or TSYS, the company announced Jan. 24.

The Justice Department has again delayed its decision on the ACI Worldwide Inc. acquisition of S1 Corp., prompting ACI to extend the closing of the acquisition until Feb. 10.

It may be as close to a David versus Goliath story that the payments industry can muster in the United Kingdom.

Fifth Third Bancorp plans to stay the course in its decision to be deliberate in how it deals with reductions in debit card interchange revenue stemming from a rate reduction that took effect last fall under a mandate from the Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act.

BancorpSouth Inc. in Tupelo, Miss., has selected Total System Services Inc. to process its debit card and consumer and commercial credit cards.

If financial-services companies have any reservations about being appointed the front-line enforcers for copyright protections under proposed anti-piracy legislation, now would be their time to strike.

As European banks continue to establish standards for a Single Euro Payments Area, not nearly as much attention has focused on a similar process for ecommerce or mobile payments in the euro zone.

Total System Services Inc. has added two executives to its senior management group, the processor announced Jan. 12.

In emerging markets, mobile devices have become more than a default channel to deliver rudimentary services to unbanked consumers. Improvements in handset capabilities and the expansion of the mobile-money model demonstrate a mature, diverse market and one that attracted IBM to make major inroads with a number of banks across Africa in just the past couple of months.

Commercial clients of Regions Bank now may expand the scope of the payment options available to their own customers under a deal the institution struck to support Secure Vault Payments, joining the 37 banks that already are members.

U.S. Bancorp has implemented the electronic payments system Secure Vault Payments with the Nebraska Child Support Payment Center for parents to make child-support payments online.

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication’s interbank payment network generates 15 million messages each day. In the past, this enormous flow of data has passed by silently; member banks had little access to it.

The number of companies caught in data breaches exposing consumers’ credit, debit and bank account numbers is growing, but the best way to make amends to customers is not yet clear.

Fiserv Inc.’s CheckFree and CashEdge subsidiaries have filed a patent infringement suit against Fidelity National Information Services alleging FIS’s Metavante unit is infringing on Fiserv’s patents for electronic bill payment and presentment and person-to-person payments, which are being used by thousands of credit unions and banks, the technology company announced Jan. 5.

The Members Group and Co-op Financial Services have entered into a strategic partnership to create the largest payment-services provider for credit unions, the companies announced Jan. 5.

Shifting business-to-business payments from paper invoices to commercial cards streamlines certain processes, but many companies still cling to time-sapping policies requiring managers to check each transaction manually looking for mistakes and abuse.