Retailers

Cielo S.A., a Brazil-based merchant acquirer with approximately 1.2 million active merchant accounts, is buying 30,000 Optimum T4205 point-of-sale terminals from Hypercom Corp., the terminal maker announced Sept. 2.

Only acquiring banks and the largest ISOs have to file formal written plans with the card brands to explain how they intend to bring the nation’s 5 million small retailers, restaurateurs and other mom-and-pop businesses into compliance with Payment Card Industry data security standards. But everybody in the credit and debit card “food chain” feels the sometimes-unpleasant effects of those plans.

VeriFone Systems Inc. plans to use its acquisition of Way Systems Inc. to attract more merchant interest in its mobile-payment systems. But the deal also eliminates a competitor, analysts say.

Hypercom Corp.’s announced change on Aug. 31 of its sales leadership overseeing multilane point-of-sale products and Latin America signifies the payment-terminal maker’s desire to increase market share and to develop new sales channels.

Twin brothers Zachary and Matthew Hyman this year have added more than 11,000 merchants to their San Rafael, Calif.-based Central Payment ISO, putting them on track to reprise their success with a previous ISO.

TransFirst, a Hauppauge, N.Y.-based independent sales organization, has expanded a referral agreement with New York Community Bancorp Inc. to include the bank’s recent acquisitions of Cleveland-based AmTrust Bank and Phoenix-based Desert Hills Bank, and to offer more services, TransFirst says.

To boost its mobile-payment strategy, VeriFone Systems Inc. announced Wednesday it has acquired the assets of Way Systems Inc., a point-of-sale terminal and gateway services provider for mobile merchants. The purchase price included a $6 million upfront payment and an earn-out payable in one year of up to an additional $3 million if certain performance targets are met.

Hypercom Corp.’s announced change on Aug. 31 of its sales leadership overseeing multilane point-of-sale products and Latin America signifies the payment-terminal maker’s desire to increase market share and to develop new sales channels.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC today announced the availability of a new product, PCI Assist, designed to help the processor’s smaller merchants validate their compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

ACI Worldwide Inc. said Monday that it would supply payment services to Domino's Pizza Inc.

MasterCard Worldwide has announced a deal with a Brussels online payment company that would give customers of MasterCard issuers greater access to U.S. and United Kingdom online merchants.

France-based payment-service provider Aros Worldline plans to acquire India-based payment-services provider Venture Infotek Pvt. Ltd. for US$100 million. The acquisition would represent India’s largest-ever deal in the payments space, reports local newspaper Economic Times.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has dismissed a shareholder class-action lawsuit filed against some members of VeriFone Systems Inc.’s board of directors in 2007, according to the San Jose, Calif.-based terminal maker.

Intuit Inc. is enhancing its GoPayment mobile credit and debit card acceptance service with a card reader designed to attach to Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

Independent sales organizations contribute about 35% of Global Payments Inc.’s annual revenue, but the revenue they generate has a lower profit margin for the Atlanta-based payments processor than that of some of its other business, suggests a recent analyst report.

Gemalto NV’s Secure Transactions unit, which includes banking cards, generated 207.4 million euros (US$253 million) in revenue during the first half of this year, up 1.4% from 204.6 million euros during the same period in 2009, the France-based smart card vendor announced Aug. 26. The unit’s profit from operations totaled 5.6 million euros, down 24.3% from 7.4 million euros.

Hypercom Corp. said Wednesday that it is bringing to the United States a version of its end-to-end encryption software that is currently available in Asia.

Mobile-marketing firm Mocapay Inc. this month announced a strategic partnership with ISO eNational Payments with the goal of helping merchants deliver customized coupons and other promotions to consumers via mobile handsets.

Now that they can do so without violating contracts, merchants are expected to more aggressively steer customers toward less-expensive payment methods in the coming months.

Companies that install or manage payment-application software, such as that used in integrated point-of-sale terminals, can best protect their information by following a list of best practices Visa Inc. issued this week, the payments company contends.