Payment processing

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United States-based auction Web site eBay Inc. says it is reviewing a directive from Australian competition authorities that delays company plans to mandate PayPal, eBay's payment service, as the only online-payment option on the company's Australian Web site, a spokesperson tells CardLine Global. EBay officials worked through Thursday night to "digest the information," the spokesperson says. "We will make further comment following the review process," the spokesperson says. On Thursday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it was determining if eBay's mandate is anticompetitive (CardLine Global, 13 June). The mandate was scheduled to start Tuesday.

Global Payments Inc., an Atlanta provider of payment processing and cash access services to casinos, said four customers have signed up to use its VIP Lightspeed package of check-cashing, cash advance, and automated teller machine products and services.

Citibank, which operates the nation's eighth-largest bank-owned ATM network, next week will begin replacing most of its ATMs in a bid to improve customer service.

Bank of America Corp. is raising its ATM surcharge in the Chicago market to $3 from $2

Mastercard Worldwide has some catching up to do in the debit card market to

Chevron Federal Credit Union and Technology Credit Union have joined the

More than 90% of Nautilus Hyosung America Inc.'s customers order ATMs through a Web ordering system, MinibankATM.com, Chan Park, company president and CEO, told ATM&Debit News at the company's Second Annual Users' conference. The Coppell, Texas, company launched Web site ordering in June 2007.

Barclays PLC

MasterCard Europe has "temporarily repealed" its interchange rates that European regulators say violate antitrust rules, the card company said Thursday. The action applies to cross-border interchange merchant acquirers pay card issuers when customers use cards carrying the MasterCard or Maestro debit brands. On 19 Dec. 2007, the European Commission ordered MasterCard to lower the rates within six months or face daily fines amounting to 3.5% of global revenues. On 1 March, MasterCard filed an appeal with the European Court of First Instance. The card organization is continuing that appeal, though MasterCard does not expect a judgment until "the second half of 2010," a MasterCard spokesperson tells CardLine Global. The interchange rates average 1% of the sale for MasterCard-branded cards and 0.5% for Maestro-branded cards, the spokesperson says. "MasterCard believes its cross-border interchange system has kept the cost of payment cards low for cardholders," Javier Perez, MasterCard Europe president, says in a statement. In March, the European Commission said it was investigating the interchange rates applied to Visa card transactions in Europe and the card organization's rule that merchants must accept all Visa-branded cards regardless of the issuer or type of transaction. Visa said it expects to reach a "negotiated settlement" with regulators (CardLine Global, 3 April).

First Data Corp. has extended an agreement to provide merchant processing services for customers of Webster Financial Corp. of Waterbury, Conn.

Cam Commerce Solutions Inc., a Fountain Valley, Calif., provider of payment processing systems for small and midsize merchants, said Tuesday that it has agreed to sell itself to Great Hill Partners LLC, a Boston private-equity company.

MIAMI — Despite a slowdown in the growth of international remittance volumes that began last year, Wells Fargo & Co. said its remittance business achieved triple-digit growth in the 12 months through May, reflecting what it sees as an ongoing shift to banks from nonbank providers.

Fiserv Inc. is working to offer its walk-in bill-payment service in branches of banks that are trying to reach the underbanked, a large and potentially lucrative market.

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Wincor Nixdorf International GmbH has moved into second place among the world's largest ATM manufacturers based on shipments in 2007, according to a private study by Retail Banking Research, a London-based strategic research and consulting firm.

Microsoft Corp. has signed an agreement to use Symmetric Systems LLC's VitalPay product for payment-gateway services, global payment processing, merchant workflow, and reporting, Symmetric said Tuesday.

SignaPay Ltd., an Irving, Texas-based independent sales organization, has launched SenorPay, a sales division concentrating on Spanish-speaking merchants.

BOSTON — To expand in the business-to-business payments market, credit card issuers may have to abandon the interchange structure, an analyst has predicted.

At least two groups of shareholders have filed lawsuits alleging that the automated teller machine operator TRM Corp. misled investors about the condition of its finances.