Retailers

First Data Corp.’s decision to consolidate its merchant and card-issuer processing operations could help the payments company trim costs and better seize opportunities stemming from pending debit card regulation, analysts said Jan. 13.

Compliance with Payment Card Industry data-security standards is a top concern among smaller merchants, but many remain unaware of the scope of their potential liability regarding data breaches and are unclear on specific requirements, new survey data released Jan. 12 suggest.

Hypercom Corp. has signed a deal with a German retail chain that will deploy 30,000 of its Artema Hybrid point-of-sale terminals over the next 30 months, the terminal maker announced Jan. 19.

Hypercom Corp. has signed a deal with a German retail chain that will deploy 30,000 of its Artema Hybrid point-of-sale terminals over the next 30 months, the terminal maker announced Jan. 19.

EBay Inc.’s payment unit, which includes PayPal Inc. and Bill Me Later, experienced a strong fourth quarter, eBay reported this afternoon.

The Indian capital city of New Delhi is testing a new, automated parking-management system that will accept payment cards from motorists either onsite or online, an official from the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure Centre tells PaymentsSource.

Manila’s two suburban rail networks are conducting a trial in the Philippines to test the use of a common contactless smart card for their commuters.

Within the United States, Ingenico S.A. already may be benefiting from the proposed merger between VeriFone Systems Inc. and Hypercom Corp., rival point-of-sale terminal makers.

Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC has rolled out a suite of services called Safetech Fraud and Security Solutions, the New York-based merchant-processing unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced Jan. 18.

Merchant-level salespeople who use POS Portal Inc. as their point-of-sale equipment distributor now have a mobile-phone tool that enables them to check the availability and wholesale pricing of devices, POS Portal announced Jan. 4.

Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, for the first time is extending health care payment services to Puerto Rico through an arrangement with Paytech Corp., a Puerto Rico-based e-commerce transaction processor, the two companies announced Jan. 13.

The problem with PCI is that its focus is on protecting acquirer and issuer cardholder data when outside any merchant it is so easy to skim a card or steal cardholder data and then commit fraud.

ISOs working with Global Payments Inc. will play a role in determining the effects of a proposed 12-cent cap on debit transactions imposed by the Federal Reserve Board on the Atlanta-based payments processor, Global Payments said last week during a conference call to discuss its fiscal second quarter results.

Visa Inc. says it plans to implement a dual interchange schedule for issuing banks and credit unions in the wake of debit interchange regulation.

Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, has moved quicker than it originally anticipated in acquiring First National Bank of Omaha’s stake in First National Merchant Solutions LLC.

United Bank Card Inc. is making its Harbortouch point-of-sale system available for free to merchants that continue to use the company to process their payment card transactions, the Hampton, N.J.-based ISO announced Jan. 3.

VeriFone Systems Inc. confirmed its plans to spin off Hypercom Corp.’s U.S business after its planned merger is completed in the second half of this year, according to regulatory filing Wednesday.

Compliance with Payment Card Industry data-security standards is a top concern among smaller merchants, but many remain unaware of the scope of their potential liability regarding data breaches and are unclear on specific requirements, new survey data released Jan. 12 suggest.

North American Bancard will use Partner Commerce Inc.’s advertising network to find prospective merchants to help drive account growth, the Troy, Mich.-based independent sales organization announced Jan. 6.

More than half of corporations plan to increase spending this year on payment-security compliance, while the task of educating employees on the proper methods for handling cardholder data remains a pesky challenge, new survey data released Jan. 12 suggest.