Payment processing

Record second-quarter highs in processing sales volume and net revenue have Heartland Payment Systems Inc. executives singing the praises of a retooled sales force and diligence in monitoring expenses.

Helped by strong growth in purchase volume outside the U.S., Visa Inc. on July 27 reported healthy across-the-board fiscal third quarter transaction growth.

Payments processor Heartland Payments System Inc. on July 28 said it expects its 2011 earnings to be higher than it previously forecasted after reporting a jump in second-quarter profit and sales.

Hacking suspects may blame their arrests on having picked the wrong target.

Visa Inc.’s fiscal third-quarter net income rose 40.4% from a year earlier due partly to a gain it recognized from the revaluation of a deal with Visa Europe.

The finalization of new debit card regulations likely will provide a tailwind to bank technology spending later this year, according to the top executive of vendor Fiserv Inc.

Aided by relatively strong performance from its EFT Processing segment, transaction processor Euronet Worldwide Inc. reported favorable second-quarter revenue and profitability.

Flush with cash and the prospect of stronger revenue growth for the rest of the year, Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, is eyeing potential acquisitions that would diversify its operations beyond its core credit card processing business.

A start-up company’s contactless-payment wristbands have gained the backing of the Visa brand under a product launch announced July 27.

Shares in S1 Corp. traded higher when the markets opened this morning as Israel-based Fundtech Ltd. reminded investors that its agreement to merge with S1 Corp. has not been finalized yet and could fall prey to yesterday’s higher offer by ACI Worldwide to acquire S1.

Citing improving economic conditions, Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, on July 26 reported a 3.9% increase in second-quarter revenue, to $447.6 million from $430.8 million during the same period a year ago. Net income was $54.6 million, up 4% from $52.5 million.

Fiserv Inc.’s second-quarter revenue rose 4.9%, to $1.07 billion from $1.02 billion a year earlier as the vendor sold more of its bill-payment and account-processing software to banks.

Wedding bells are ringing again for technology vendors, but many bank executives do not know on which side of the aisle to sit for their immediate buying decisions.

Revenue from electronic channels supported by The Western Union Co., including westernunion.com, account-based funds transfers and mobile funds transfers, grew by more than 35% during the second quarter, the company said in announcing its earnings for the period.

Few of the security features designed to prove a credit card’s validity in the physical world work well online. One startup aims to change that.

Payments-technology vendor ACI Worldwide Inc. has submitted a bid to buy rival S1 Corp. for $540 million, aiming to thwart a separate deal S1 announced last month to merge with Fundtech Ltd., ACI announced July 26.

Signaling the opening of a new market for Chinese manufacturers and retailers, Alibaba Group Ltd. is working with Western Union to develop an online payment platform, the Chinese business-to-business e-commerce specialist announced earlier this month.

Credit card issuers wanting to improve profitability in the wake of the recession could get better results by looking more closely at their own fraud cases to determine specifically which type of fraud criminals are perpetrating and how to stop it, new research from Experian PLC suggests.

If a hacker gets into the cash-register software of a restaurant, captures credit card information and sells it on the Internet to counterfeiters all over the world, it could take months or years for police to pinpoint the source.

The joint venture Global Payments Inc.’s entered into in Spain late last year with one of Europe’s top banks delivered better-than-expected revenue and helped drive fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, the merchant processor’s top executive told analysts during a July 21conference call to discuss the quarter’s earnings.