Retailers

Give up the smoke and mirrors. The time has come for ISOs and agents to bring honesty and transparency to their negotiations on the residual split, industry sources say.

Tap Group subsidiary Tap e-Payment Services (HK) Ltd. will provide electronic funds transfer processing integration services to A.S. Watson stores in Hong Kong and China under a service agreement reached with Sino Payments Inc., the companies announced March 28. Tap Group is a venture partner of Sino Payments.

The Smurfs may have an important security lesson for banks and credit card networks getting into mobile payments.

MasterCard Worldwide on March 28 announced a five-year “roadmap” for electronic payments in Australia that will require issuers and card-accepting merchants there to adopt its PayPass contactless-payment service beginning next year.

American Express Co., going against its image as a brand for the elite, is launching a digital wallet that would make it the payment choice for the masses — in person, online and in mobile.

Despite the heightened activity around mobile payments, there are still too many unresolved questions for the payment form to have mainstream success this year, one analyst contends.

Though Google Inc. has yet to deliver on a true near-field communication payment phone, it is rumored to be working with key players on the acceptance side.

Ukash, a United Kingdom-based firm that sells prepaid vouchers for online shopping, believes a new free Apple Inc. iPhone application finally can help it break into the United States market after establishing its payment method in more than 50 other countries.

Barclays PLC continues to dominate the United Kingdom’s contactless-payment market, claiming 88% of the UK’s total base of 12.9 million contactless debit and credit cardholders as of the beginning of the year, according to data the company released March 24.

LexisNexis has launched Retail Fraud Manager, a platform designed to help online merchants detect and combat card-not-present fraud by automating and analyzing the transaction-review process, the company announced March 23.

Litle & Co.’s Web-based merchant clients may begin to protect themselves against card-not-present fraud through CyberSource Corp.’s Decision Manager online fraud-prevention service, CyberSource announced March 23.

Telefónica O2 Germany GmbH’s customers now may purchase virtual and physical goods online using their mobile-phone number through a partnership the wireless carrier announced with Boku Inc. March 24.

WESTON, Fla.–Details remain unclear regarding new Internal Revenue Service rules that require payment processors and acquirers to track merchants’ transactions and report them to the IRS, but help is on the way.

WESTON, Fla.–Independent sales organizations, concerned about how proposed new debit-interchange rules may affect their operations, are gearing up for changes even as experts say they cannot predict the shape those changes ultimately might take.

The delay some lawmakers are seeking in implementing proposed new debit-interchange rules would represent a “huge handout” to large banks that do not deserve another bailout by consumers and businesses, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told reporters March 24 during a teleconference outlining his opposition to a delay.

Union Bank of India Ltd. is partnering with Nokia India Pvt. Ltd. to launch a mobile-based payment service, a spokesperson for the Mumbai-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Alexandria, Va.-based Pentagon Federal Credit Union said it is providing members with 5% cash back on every gas purchase paid for at the pump and 1% cash back on all other purchases with the use of its PenFed Visa Platinum Cash Rewards Card.

Spotting an opportunity to help hospitals improve patient-payment collection systems and to expand its relationships with commercial customers, Wells Fargo & Co. this month is rolling out an online health care payment product that integrates various functions.

Lloyds TSB Bank PLC later this year will begin issuing Visa-branded contactless debit cards to its accountholders within the greater London area, the Scotland-based bank announced March 23.

Payments-software company ACI Worldwide Inc. has acquired payments-software provider ISD Corp. for an undisclosed amount, a move that adds 140 retailers to ACI’s client base, Carolyn Homberger, ACI vice president of programs and operations, tells PaymentsSource.