Retailers

PayPal Inc.’s Oct. 26 announcement that its transactions would be integrated into VeriFone Systems Inc.’s mobile point-of-sale product after Jan. 1 is a clear sign PayPal wants to move beyond e-commerce transactions, observers say (see story).

VeriFone Systems Inc. and Hypercom Corp. have set aside their differences, announcing this morning an agreement in which VeriFone will acquire the competing point-of-sale terminal maker in an all-stock transaction valued at $485 million, including net debt VeriFone would assume.

Discover Financial Services is still struggling to reach “the last mile” of full U.S. merchant acceptance as many retail locations fall short in promoting the brand at the point of sale, Roger Hochschild, Discover president and chief operating officer, told analysts on Nov. 16.

First American Payment Systems LP has signed Lenoir, N.C.-based Parkway Bank as its 26th referral-bank partner, the Fort Worth, Texas-based independent sales organization announced Nov. 9.

In detecting merchant fraud, sometimes less is more.

Call it the ISO’s lament. Forced to squabble over a shrinking pool of customers in a price-oriented marketplace, merchant-service providers say they are slashing margins and scrambling for ways to differentiate their offerings.

Online merchants using CyberSource Corp., a unit of Visa Inc., for their online payment processing will be able to use Trustwave’s security-assessment services, Trustwave announced Nov. 11.

PayPal Inc.’s impending move into face-to-face transactions enabled by VeriFone Systems Inc. mobile point-of-sale terminals has the eBay unit developing a reseller program, Laura Chambers, PayPal senior director of mobile, tells PaymentsSource.

Why so many ISOs, acquirers, and point-of-sale software and hardware makers are excited about putting advanced mobile POS equipment into merchants’ hands is not difficult to grasp. Such systems may generate additional revenue not only from existing clients, but also possibly from merchants who previously could not or would not accept payment cards.

ISOs can differentiate themselves–or at least keep up with the competition–by offering merchants value-added business-to-business services that track payroll, inventory and marketing. B2B services sometimes earn ISOs a profit, but often they serve as loss leaders.

Imagine a small-business owner toiling over a stack of checks in a tiny back office. Pen in hand, the overworked entrepreneur laboriously scratches the information from each check onto a deposit slip. Eventually, the paperwork finished, he puts the lock on the door, trudges to the bank and stands in line to make his deposit.

Declines in same-store sales at small and midsize businesses appear to be easing up, suggests the Small Business Credit Sales Report.

Ingenico SA is supplying point-of-sale hardware and transaction-processing and terminal-management services to McDonald’s Australia Ltd., the France-based terminal maker announced Nov. 2. Terms were not disclosed.

USA Technologies Inc. generated $4.4 million in total revenue during its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30, up 15.8% from $3.8 million during the same period last year, the provider of wireless payment acceptance announced Nov. 10. The company reported a net loss for the quarter of $1.9 million, an improvement from the $2.9 million loss a year earlier.

ISOs can differentiate themselves–or at least keep up with the competition–by offering merchants value-added business-to-business services that track payroll, inventory and marketing. B2B services sometimes earn ISOs a profit, but often they serve as loss leaders.

Declines in same-store sales at small and midsize businesses appear to be easing up, suggests the Small Business Credit Sales Report.

Ingenico SA is supplying point-of-sale hardware and transaction-processing and terminal-management services to McDonald’s Australia Ltd., the France-based terminal maker announced Nov. 2.

In today’s marketplace, where members of the merchant-acquiring community are using every resource available to improve their professional standing and to find new business, many are turning to such social-networking websites as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to get in front of their respective audiences.

Many payments-industry executives are considering taking new jobs for the opportunity to gain professional growth, according to new survey results from TopGrading Solutions Inc.

Cooperative Rural Development Bank Ltd. has expanded the payment card acceptance it set up for the Tanzania National Parks in late 2008, the bank announced Nov. 3.