Retailers

Discover Financial Services more than doubled its third-quarter net income to $649 million as its customers increased their spending and its credit card loan portfolio grew for the first time in over two years.

As part of a campaign to protect retailers and restaurant operators from robbers, an independent sales organization is offering a voucher for an AK-47 assault rifle to merchants that sign up for its payment services.

Google Inc. has reached agreements with Visa Inc., American Express Co. and Discover Financial Services with the goal of eventually enabling other financial institutions to add their Near Field Communication-enabled payment card products to Google Wallet, the company announced Sept. 19.

If a merchant plans to use advanced data encryption as a credit card data security measure, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council now has some guidelines for how best to go about it.

Fraudsters are increasingly using alternative payment methods to make bogus transactions, in many cases moving away from debit cards and checks, merchants report.

Building on its growing momentum in contactless payments, Bank of Montreal is rolling out the Mobile PayPass Tag, a Near Field Communication-enabled sticker that consumers can attach to their mobile phones to make contactless payments in Canada, the bank announced Sept. 13.

The online payment provider eLayaway Inc. said on Monday that it would join the Secure Vault Payments network and offer the service to its customers in the fourth quarter.

Terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. has taken a key step toward bringing its recently acquired Hypercom Corp. hardware operations abroad under one roof by making its product information available to Hypercom distributors in Western Europe, the company said Sept. 12.

With membership expanding from 11 companies to 16 companies in the last 60 days, the North American Merchant Cash Advance Association is becoming the voice of the emerging industry, its leader says.

Fifth Third Bancorp is leveraging its existing relationships with colleges and universities to enter the campus card program market.

A new bulletin from Visa indicates that it is increasingly concerned about point of sale terminals being adapted to steal card data over Bluetooth connections.

Most independent sales organizations are turning their backs on a whole category of potential card-acceptance accounts, according to a payments-gateway provider.

In an effort to make the technical aspects of credit card security compliance easier for its small-business customers, Century Payments Inc. will put Trustwave fraud-protection programs in place within three months, the company said Sept. 7.

Visa Europe is making more headway promoting its contactless card and mobile technology in France, as it launches a second contactless pilot in Strasbourg. Visa also has a contactless pilot operating in Nice, France, which launched in May 2010.

Andrews FCU on Wednesday announced it is rolling out a Globe Trek Visa Rewards credit card with both magnetic strip and the Europay, MasterCard and Visa EMV technology, also known as Chip and PIN.

VeriFone Systems Inc. continues to show positive quarterly results in terms of revenue and net income, and company executives expect the trend to continue as contactless mobile payments grow worldwide and EMV chip-and-PIN takes hold in the United States.

VeriFone Systems Inc. on Sept. 6 reported a 21.5% increase in third-quarter revenue, marking the fifth consecutive quarter in which the company experienced a revenue gain of 20% or more compared with the previous year.

Following recommendations from India’s central bank urging the country’s financial institutions to issue chip cards, ICICI Bank Ltd. has begun to issue its first EMV-compliant credit card, the issuer announced Sept. 5.

Growth in merchant accounts that translated into more credit card transaction-processing fees helped Canadian merchant processor VersaPay Corp. boost second-quarter revenue.

A directive earlier this month from Visa Inc. designed to motivate merchants to support the EMV chip card standard for U.S. cards and payment terminals may spark a cottage industry in EMV training seminars and consulting.