Retailers

Merchants frustated by the complexities of their monthly credit card transaction statements ought to consider having an analyst review them to avoid overcharges, in part because the industry lacks formal standards and protections, a payments processor executive says.

TransFirst LLC, a company specializing in services that bridge the gap between ISOs and processors, is purchasing an ISO that has been a longtime client.

Boku Inc. has inked an agreement with two French wireless phone carriers to offer its carrier-billing service, a deal which will extend Boku’s reach to 32 million customers in France.

A new mobile credit card reader to be offered in the United States by a European startup will accept magnetic stripe cards for payment, but the company is not concerned the U.S. move to EMV cards will affect merchant interest in the device.

Visa Inc.’s announcement that it expects old, static PINs to eventually be “eliminated entirely” in favor of dynamic authentication is facing resistance–in particular because many are not convinced that the PIN is past its prime.

Remember that five-gigabyte hard drive that WikiLeaks allegedly had that contained damaging information about Bank of America? It appears that that data stash no longer exist, having been destroyed by a former associate of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange after the two men got into a fight.

In a significant boost to mobile payments in China, the country’s sole card processor China UnionPay Co. Ltd. has formed a partnership with handset maker HTC Corp. to launch a phone with a built-in mobile-payment facility.

A new point-of-sale terminal from Vivotech Inc. capable of accepting Near Field Communication mobile payments and chip-and-PIN transactions could help position U.S. merchants to embrace EMV smart card technology and perhaps save them money on security-standards compliance costs, the vendor believes.

Independent sales organizations, which sell payment card acceptance to merchants, see a big opportunity in Visa Inc.’s decision to accelerate the switch to EMV chip-and-PIN cards in the United States.

Hearing the “click-click” of a train conductor punching small holes in paper tickets soon will become less apparent on the Long Island Rail Road when conductors begin using a smartphone device to accept card payments on the busy New York rail system.

Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. closed some of their card customers' accounts this week, citing data breaches at unidentified retailers.

Citigroup Inc. has launched a mobile-rewards application with Best Buy Co. Inc. that enables its cardholders to redeem ThankYou rewards, Citi announced Aug. 18.

A collaboration involving Digi Telecommunications Sdn. Bhd., Alliance Bank Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. and MasterCard Worldwide has led to the launch of Malaysia’s first telco-branded prepaid card, the companies announced Aug. 16.

Whether a merchant is struggling financially or not, the cost of transaction fees on credit card services may not be as big of an issue as the difficulty understanding the monthly merchant-account statement, an executive with the Michigan Retailers Association believes.

A service that lets consumers make electronic payments to online merchants without disclosing their bank account details is expanding into more financial institutions through a deal with the online banking software vendor Jwaala.

It made headlines in Europe, but this week’s announcement that three major telecommunication companies in Germany have joined forces to bypass supporting banks in handling Mpass mobile-payment transactions is a concept not likely to quickly take hold in other countries, one industry observer says.

Eager to exploit new growth opportunities in a sluggish economy, certain payments-industry technology suppliers already are positioning themselves to capitalize on opportunities Visa Inc.’s U.S. EMV chip card initiative may trigger as participants upgrade systems and equipment, observers say.

The recent turmoil in the financial markets has not yet altered banks’ immediate technology spending plans, Jack Henry & Associates Inc.’s top executive says.

Starbucks Corp. changed its mind about allowing a customer to share his prepaid card with the world.

Isis, the telecommunication consortium intent on offering a mobile-payment scheme, is building out a wider range of mobile-wallet capabilities to keep up with its aggressive rival, Google Inc.