Payment processing

Merchants wanting to integrate their transaction data into other business-management software have a new option.

In a ruling that will affect hundreds of credit unions, a federal judge agreed Friday to dismiss a suit by MShift claiming that Intuit Financial Services, formerly Digital Insight Corp., is infringing on its patent for mobile banking.

Merchants accepting payments via mobile phones experienced the highest card-not-present fraud volume in 2009, facing on average 3,385 attempts to commit fraudulent transactions each month, new research shows, suggesting the need for higher security as more merchants accept mobile payments.

A global relief organization and a local mobile-phone provider in Haiti recently completed a test of its Mobile Money funds-transfer project in which Haitians affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake used mobile phones to receive payment for work and to make purchases at a local grocery store.

Usage of mobile person-to-person payment services in Africa is expected to explode in the next five years, according to a new research report.

Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc., Beall's Inc. and Luby's Inc. have renewed multi-year card processing agreements with Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC, the Cincinnati company said Wednesday.

Hypercom Corp. has withdrawn its lawsuit filed Sept. 23 against VeriFone Systems Inc. over allegations of violating a confidentiality agreement. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based terminal maker announced the withdrawal virtually seconds after PaymentsSource reported the lawsuit in a bulletin (see story).

Trustwave, best known for testing and fixing payment-network vulnerabilities, believes the time is right to also offer a physical security-evaluation service.

CurveNorth Inc., a Silverado, Calif.-based company that makes operation-management software for independent sales organizations and acquirers, has added the merchant-screening service from CoreLogic Inc.’s CredCo division to its offerings, CoreLogic says Oct. 5.

National Payments Corp. of India in November reportedly plans to launch a payment system that would enable consumers in that country to transfer funds for free to any account in India held by participating financial institutions using their mobile phones.

VeriFone Systems Inc. said Wednesday that it has begun installing passenger-activated payment and multimedia information systems in taxis in Atlanta.

SecureKey Technologies Inc. has developed a way to turn any computer into a contactless payment terminal, bringing the improved security of contactless payments to e-commerce — without requiring online merchants to do anything to their systems.

PayPal Inc. is acting more like a bank these days and the addition of a mobile remote-deposit capture feature to its Apple Inc. iPhone application is helping solidify that view, according to one industry observer.

While the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against three major card networks appeared to bolster merchants' case for regulating interchange fees, it may also have undercut a push for legislation targeting the issue.

Participants in a cross-industry forum to help develop U.S. mobile payments technology are nearing completion of a white paper that aims to identify the significant obstacles and opportunities facing the industry, Richard R. Oliver, executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, told attendees Oct. 5 at SourceMedia’s ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Phoenix, Ariz.

Bling Nation Ltd.’s deal with Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC could give them the entree they need to promote the company’s postage-stamp-sized contactless payment sticker across the country.

A settlement involving the top two payments networks over their merchant acceptance policies gives retailers more clout to promote the use of cheaper cards, but an analyst doubts many businesses will change their practices.

Citigroup Inc. wants to grow its payments revenue by helping other businesses grow theirs.

Looking to boost resources to meet an expected spike in demand for mobile financial services, ClairMail announced a $13.9 million infusion from VCs including Investor Growth Capital (IGC), a Stockholm firm that specializes in growth-stage tech firms.

MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc. announced Oct. 4 that they have settled an antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice against both companies regarding payment network rules that prohibit so-called merchant steering, in which merchants steer consumers towards using less-expensive card products for payment.