POS and Retail

Citing higher purchase volumes for credit and debit cards in all regions, MasterCard Worldwide earned net income of $717 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, up 38.4% from $518 million a year earlier, the company said Nov. 2.

Can "Stop.Think.Connect" become the new "Stop, Drop and Roll"?

VeriFone Systems Inc. is continuing its push into the retail mobile-payment market by acquiring Global Bay Mobile Technologies, a private mobile retail software provider, the payment-terminal maker announced Nov. 1.

An Internal Revenue Service announcement that it will not penalize independent sales organizations showing a “good faith” effort to supply the IRS with newly required merchant-transaction data for the 2011 tax year does not represent a total reprieve from the new regulations, a tax-compliance service provider says.

Small merchants remain woefully ignorant about card-transaction security, but independent sales organizations can do something about it, according to the industry insiders who completed a recent survey.

Those who want a say in future card-data security standards may send feedback to the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council for the next six months, a council executive says.

Using an effective online banking data-security method customers view as nonintrusive represents the best option for financial institutions as fraud-prevention capabilities increasingly become key factors in consumer choice, a fraud expert suggests in a recent study report.

VeriFone Systems Inc. will provide EMV point-of-sale card-acceptance systems in the Caribbean to payments processor First Data Corp. in a deal the payment-terminal maker announced Oct. 31.

CHICAGO–Merchant acquirers, independent sales organizations and payment processors should become better “payment consultants” for their merchant clients and provide as much advice as possible regarding data security.

Independent sales organizations should concentrate on making their Internal Revenue Service reporting more efficient and merchant friendly instead of trying to turn it into a profit center, says a tax-compliance service provider.

Heartland Payment Systems reported favorable third-quarter earnings Oct. 27, but it is still too early to tell if its “Durbin Dollars” promotion is paying off, an analyst says.

Apriva LLC plans to launch a mobile wallet next month that could help independent sales organizations and agents stake their claim on part of the mobile-payments market.

Linkable Networks Inc. is putting a new spin on merchant-funded rewards with a system that enables consumers to link retail offers they see in various advertisements online, in print and on television directly to a credit or debit card account.

Bracing for the loss of some debit transactions as a result of new Federal Reserve rules requiring debit cards to carry at least two card network brands, Visa Inc. next year plans to ramp up a series of incentives for merchants and acquirers, Joe Saunders, Visa chairman and CEO, told analysts Oct. 26.

You can leave home without your American Express card now if you are heading to Neiman Marcus.

CHICAGO— The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition will launch a portal-based reporting system to help acquirers monitor and get rid of fraudulent online merchants, Robert Caldwell, founding partner of Bellevue, Wash.-based G2 Web Services, told attendees here Oct. 27 during an Electronics Transactions Association leadership summit.

CHICAGO–Google Inc., Isis and PayPal Inc. each are attempting to position their mobile wallets as the one consumers will prefer to use on their smartphones.

For toy store owner Buddy Wood, the one thing as familiar as Schwinn bicycles and Radio Flyer wagons is interchange. Wood has watched fees evolve in the four decades he has operated his family-owned store in Metairie, La.

An increase in transaction volume and new accounts fueled a small increase in third quarter revenue for Total Systems Services Inc., or TSYS, the company announced Oct. 25.

Taking mobile payments to new heights, MasterCard Worldwide soon will conduct a test of contactless-based payments at 30,000 feet, enabling passengers to purchase refreshments using its contactless PayPass technology aboard planes from WestJet, a Calgary, Alberta-based airline.