Retailers

Many online merchants in the United Kingdom may experience downtime during the holiday shopping season because their systems used to detect fraud card-not-present fraud may not be reliable or current, new research suggests.

Think Computer Corp. has introduced a digital-coupon system integrated into its mobile-payments application that relies on facial recognition to confirm a user’s identity at the point of sale to help combat payment fraud.

Visa Inc. unveiled its new special offers mobile payment app, placing it in a crowded market for merchant perks that also includes a major push by rival MasterCard Worldwide.

Independent sales organizations and acquirers will have to wait a while longer to accurately assess the impact of the Federal Reserve Board’s recent proposal to limit debit card interchange rates at no more than 12 cents per transaction, suggests an analysis from The Strawhecker Group, an Omaha, Neb.-based payments consultancy.

Merchant acquirers might be breathing a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal to cap debit card interchange rates at 12 cents per transaction. But though the proposed rules would not directly affect them, issuer reaction might, observers say.

Various factors may have come into play regarding Ingenico S.A.’s Dec. 19 rejection of an unsolicited, nonbinding offer.

Discover Financial Services is banking on a mobile future. Executives at the Riverwoods, Ill.-based company said during a Dec. 16 conference call with analysts to discuss its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that its deal with wireless carriers AT&T Inc., T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. will play heavily in its future.

Merchant cash-advance company AmeriMerchant LLC says the hundreds of merchant-services sales offices working with transaction processor First Data Corp. will have an easier time selling AmeriMerchant’s services through an agreement announced Dec. 14.

Merchant acquirers might be breathing a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal to cap debit card interchange rates at 12 cents per transaction (see story). But though the proposed rules would not directly affect them, issuer reaction might, observers say.

The board of directors of Ingenico SA earlier today rejected an unsolicited, nonbinding offer to acquire the company (see story).

Many indicators from financial institutions, consumers and merchants suggest the United States payments industry is ready to adopt EMV chip-and-PIN technology, a new report suggests.

Ingenico SA early Monday plans to announce its reaction to a nonbinding stock offer to buy the payment-terminal maker in a deal whose value could approach 1.34 billion euros (US$1.9 billion). The France-based company would not say who made the bid.

Russian credit cardholders will spend 10% more this month on their holiday spending compared with what they spent last December, ZAO Citibank predicts in a Dec. 13 report.

Henry Gaillard, senior vice president of global operations at point-of-sale terminal maker Hypercom Corp., has resigned from the company, effective Dec. 13.

The 258 McDonald’s restaurants in Russia now accept bankcards, the fast-food provider’s acquirer Russian Standard Bank announced Dec. 13.

Merchant cash-advance company AmeriMerchant LLC says the hundreds of merchant-services sales offices working with transaction processor First Data Corp. will have an easier time selling AmeriMerchant’s services through an agreement announced Dec. 14.

Consumers again are spending with their credit cards to purchase discounted goods early in the holiday season, suggests First Data Corp.’s November SpendTrend payment card transaction analysis of all store sales activity that First Data processes.

Payment Processing Technologies LLC has launched ISO Registration In A Box. The Warsaw, Ind.-based ISO, also known as PayProTec, says it designed the service to make it easier for independent sales offices to grow their businesses.

The allure of double-digit payment card transaction volume growth and recent deregulation have prompted Elavon Inc. and Credicard, a subsidiary of Citigroup Inc., to form a merchant acquiring joint venture in Brazil, Elavon announced last week.

Assurance Investment Partners Inc. has added merchant-processing services to the list of offerings to its clients with its investment in Veritas Merchant Services LLC, a Louisville, Ky.-based ISO, Assurance announced last week.