Payment processing

The investigation continues into how thieves managed to steal funds from consumers’ debit card accounts by tampering with PIN-pad terminals at 80 outlets of Michaels Stores Inc., but payment-security experts say many merchants’ terminals probably remain exposed to similar sophisticated attacks.

CHICAGO–Traditional U.S. payments players should adjust their industry approach to address evolving consumer preferences that are causing dramatic market changes to occur, an executive from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta told attendees here May 19 during a panel discussion at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s annual conference.

PayPal Inc. has added the ability for users of Android smartphones to fund their accounts by taking a picture of a paper check.

WASHINGTON – Responding to progress credit unions and banks have made in Congress to delay or derail new interchange caps that are included in the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, the National Retail Federation is rolling out a major, nationwide, 60-day lobbying, grassroots and media campaign aimed at ensuring that the law goes into effect as scheduled.

VeriFone Systems Inc. is supplying a Turkish gasoline retailer with unattended pay-at-the-pump payment terminals, VeriFone announced May 18.

VersaPay Corp. will provide credit card processing services to Flight Network, a major online travel site in Canada, under a deal the companies announced May 18.

Mechanics Bank of Richmond, Calif., has chosen fraud-protection product from VSoft Corp., the vendor announced May 18.

WASHINGTON — Although Senate leaders have confirmed they will allow a floor vote soon on delaying interchange fee restrictions, the timing, outcome and vehicle for suspending the proposed cap are still anyone's guesses.

Dramatic reductions in credit card bad-debt and total expenses, plus gains in customer use of private-label cards within its stores driven by a 5% rewards discount launched in October, helped boost fiscal first quarter profitability within Target Corp.’s Credit Card segment.

InComm Inc. plans to develop local prepaid products in Brazil through an agreement it announced May 17 with prepaid card provider Unik S.A.

WASHINGTON – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to hold a vote on a proposal to delay the cap on debit fees, even as the Senate leader says he is opposed to the delay.

Police in Oakland, Calif., shut down an alleged identity theft operation that involved potentially thousands of Bay Area victims, The Oakland Tribune reported Monday.

MasterCard Worldwide has appointed Ajay Bhalla president of DataCash Group PLC, the card brand announced May 17.

Credit unions and banks urged a federal appeals court in Sioux Falls, S.D., to act quickly to block the Federal Reserve’s implementation of debit card caps, which they insist will break thousands of credit unions or banks.

Wireless-network operator Orange continues to expand its reach in the payments sector with what it says is the United Kingdom’s first major contactless prepaid debit card.

Prepaid debit card providers might gain new customers by adding mobile remote deposit capture services because underbanked consumers see value in the technology, suggests new survey data.

Greylock Federal Credit Union of Pittsfield, Mass., is upgrading its ATM fleet to give the machines both physical access and communication-related elements for the visually impaired and those who have mobility handicaps.

Two more banks have signed up for Secure Vault Payments, according to eWise Systems USA Inc., the Denver-based company working with NACHA, the electronic payments association, to offer the technology.

Global shipments of handsets with Near Field Communication technology should increase to nearly 550 million units by 2015, helped by the decision earlier this month by three major U.S. wireless carriers to partner with leading credit card companies on a mobile-commerce initiative, according to new IHS iSuppli research.

PayCommerce Inc. has integrated its cloud-based payments platform for small to midsize businesses with commonly used business software, the company announced May 10.