Retailers

PHOENIX–Consumer preferences for paying by credit or debit card typically are too deeply entrenched for merchants and banks to succeed easily in steering customers to one or the other option for financial reasons, one banking industry analyst contends.

A federal judge has dismissed a shareholder class-action lawsuit brought against VeriFone Systems Inc. following a restatement of three quarters from its 2007 fiscal year caused by accounting errors, VeriFone announced March 9.

Hoping to appeal to small merchants looking for a means to process payment card transactions through mobile devices, Impact PaySystem LLC has begun offering a card-swipe device from iPhoneSwiper, initially for free, the companies announced March 5.

Executives at Global Cash Access Holdings Inc. are seeing positive signs ahead, particularly in international markets, but revenue continued to decline in the fourth quarter of 2010.

ORLANDO, Fla. — As the infrastructure to support digital gifting continues to increase, why does plastic still heavily dominate the industry?

The banking industry’s fraud-protection initiatives are having an effect in the United Kingdom, as fraud losses related to payment cards, checks and online banking decreased last year, according to recent research by the UK Payments Council.

Customers of Singapore Airlines Ltd. now may pay for their flights using their PayPal Inc. accounts, according to the Singapore-based airline.

Citizens in the Indian state of Punjab may pay their electricity bills online using bankcards under a new service the Punjab State Power Corp. launched on March 1.

ORLANDO, FLA.–Companies increasingly are using prepaid debit cards as an incentive to drive customer loyalty and to reward employees, and merchants are benefiting because consumers generally are spending more than the value loaded into their card accounts, according to new research commissioned by Total System Services Inc., or TSYS.

American Express Co. cardholders that attend the South by Southwest Interactive music festival in Austin, Texas, later this week will be able to secure merchant discounts with their cards through Foursquare Labs Inc., the location-based mobile system that rewards consumers for using its service. Media reports say the two companies are piloting the system with 60 merchants at the festival and are offering a “spend $5, save $5” promotion.

PHOENIX–Credit and debit card fraud leads all other types of fraud at most U.S. banks and credit unions, but most institutions are fighting illegal account access with constrained budgets and relatively small teams averaging one to five workers, regardless of institution size, new survey data from ISMG Corp.’s BankInfoSecurity.com suggest.

Secure Vault Payments, NACHA’s alternative payment system that enables consumers to make online purchases directly from their bank accounts, may gain new prominence from a test it is running with a sizeable client.

AT&T Inc. has added WorldPay US Inc. as a processor for the mobile-merchant payment initiative the telecommunication company launched last year, according to an entry posted March 1 on WorldPay’s blog.

Tee-On Golf System Inc.’s announced partnership earlier this week with Yespay International Ltd. will enable Canadian golf courses using Tee-On’s tee-time booking software to accept EMV chip-and-PIN payment cards, according to London-based Yespay.

High-tech hackers capable of breaking into sophisticated networks may be what many small-business owners envision when hearing about data-security risks. In their minds, such breaches are more likely to plague a corporate retail giant than a small, family-run shop.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc.’s Steve Elefant readily admits software-based payment-acceptance products are less secure than those requiring hardware. But that did not prevent the payments processor from supporting Acculynk Inc.’s PaySecure checkout software, which enables merchants to accept PIN-debit cards online.

ATM independent sales organizations are worried about declining interchange rates, rising costs and pending legislation, but the majority are still looking to expand their businesses within the next year, the results of a recent survey suggest.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. said Wednesday that it will offer its commercial card customers a spending control service from MasterCard Inc., the banking company said Wednesday.

Hypercom Corp. generated nearly a 400% rise in profit during the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with the same period in 2009, the terminal maker announced March 2.

Merchants’ security concerns are driving the development and sales of new payment hardware at VeriFone Systems Inc., the top executive at the payment-terminal maker told analysts during a March 1 conference call to discuss fiscal first quarter earnings.