Payment processing

Suppose your bank's retail customer wants to use a mobile phone to accept credit cards at a garage sale she's planning. MasterCard Inc. has an app for that.

U.S. law-enforcement officials are investigating a security breach involving “a limited number” of PIN-debit terminals deployed at Aldi grocery stores, a spokesperson for the Batavia, Ill.-based company tells PaymentsSource. Aldi stores accept only PIN-debit transactions and cash for payment at the point of sale.

More consumers are using mobile phones to pay bills, but specifically how they are doing so requires more study, according Fiserv Inc., which identified the gap in information earlier this year when it polled 2,000 households as part of the technology company’s 2010 Billing Household online survey (see story).

The six-month deadline extension for Canada’s merchants to convert to EMV chip-and-PIN technology points to certain technical difficulties some have encountered during the lengthy process, observers say.

CardinalCommerce Corp. says it has developed technology to enable online merchants to offer consumers a PIN-debit payment option at the checkout screen or through a mobile phone, while Acculynk Inc. separately is building its Web-based PIN-debit payment service.

The PCI Security Standards Council this fall plans to launch a website dedicated to small merchants, which have asked the council for help in understanding how data-security measures affect them.

Qatar National Bank Ltd. has launched the first mobile-to-mobile funds-transfer service in Qatar, the Doha-based bank announced Sept. 22.

MasterCard Worldwide is “tailoring strategies” around specific foreign-market situations to expand its global card-business opportunities, Walter Macnee, the card brand’s president of international markets, told attendees at the company’s symposium for media and analysts held Sept. 23 at MasterCard’s headquarters in Purchase, N.Y.

Bharti Airtel Ltd. has become the first mobile operator in India to receive a license from the Reserve Bank of India to offer mobile-payment services, the New Delhi-based company announced Sept. 22.

Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. will buy a 98.73% stake in KSNet Inc., a South Korea-based payment processor, the South Africa-based payments-technology provider announced last week.

A judge has denied a motion by Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. to dismiss a lawsuit filed against them by SmartMetric Inc., according to court filings published Wednesday.

A recent partnership between Western Union Co. and Toronto, Canada-based electronic-wallet provider EnStream LP will enable Canadian consumers to send funds both domestically and internationally using their mobile phones. The companies plan to launch a pilot in Canada in December.

Bank of the West is planning to offer its small-business customers an ACH payment service that could make costly wire transfers unnecessary.

Citigroup Inc. has appointed Jud Linville as CEO of its Citi Cards credit card unit, replacing Paul Galant, who was named Citi’s CEO of global enterprise payments. Linville previously was president and CEO of American Express Co.’s U.S. Consumer Services operations.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC has bought Springbok Services Inc.'s prepaid card processing business as part of Springbok's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

Merchants using VeriFi Inc.’s charge-back re-presentment service no longer have to use the Los Angeles-based company’s online payment gateway. Instead, merchants now may use any online payment gateway, and they do not have to switch payment processors, Jeff Sawitke, VeriFi chief product officer, tells PaymentsSource.

Telecom Canada International, a telecommunications and energy consultancy with offices in Canada, the United States and Hong Kong, will refer its Canadian and U.S. clients wanting merchant-processing services to Elavon Inc., the Atlanta-based payment processor announced Sept. 21.

A bank in the United Arab Emirates reportedly soon plans to launch a credit card designed for use exclusively online at Jordan-based Aramex Ltd.’s Shop&Ship service.

With another solid quarter behind Discover Financial Services, the Riverwoods, Ill.- based company now says it is focused on increasing merchant acceptance of its cards, growing its Pulse PIN-debit network and boosting customer retention.

As new legislation and economic issues tighten available credit lines, more and more consumers are turning to network-branded reloadable prepaid debit and payroll cards as alternative payment methods to credit cards and cash, new research suggests.