Retailers

Discover Financial Services can check off another country in its plan to become a truly global card-acceptance brand.

As merchants crack down on fraud, resources to help investigate and recoup their losses from so-called “friendly fraud” are on the rise, helping to thwart the trend, observers say.

Zumogo, ProPay Inc.’s new social-media payment tool for mobile phones, leaves out vital information that ProPay says some competitors leave in.

MasterCard Worldwide CEO Ajay Banga expressed concern about the effects of the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed debit-interchange rules, but he also sketched out various scenarios in which MasterCard may benefit during an analyst conference call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings.

Continuing its expansion into newer payments-related territory, Visa Inc. intends to focus on increasing its presence in mobile payments, online commerce and funds transfers, Joseph W. Saunders told analysts during a conference call to discuss fiscal first-quarter earnings.

A test of an open transit payment card along a 14-mile commuter rail line near Philadelphia also will gauge the effectiveness of post-paying for transit rides.

Sports-graphics retailer Fathead LLC will use ModaSolutions Corp.’s online eBillme service as an option at checkout, the alternative payment provider announced Feb. 3.

Their silence on the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal to regulate debit card interchange rates could be counterproductive for independent sales organizations and merchant acquirers, Holli Targan, president of the Electronic Transactions Association, told attendees at the Northeast Acquirers Association conference last week in West Dover, Vt.

Various terminal makers have come out with their own devices and services designed to support payment card acceptance using mobile phones. But one ISO has decided to do so on its own, and at least one observer says the company could succeed with the proper marketing.

Commuters on the 14-mile-long rail line connecting Lindenwood, N.J., and Philadelphia would be able to use any contactless-payment card to access trains following a pilot Cubic Corp. announced Feb. 2.

A boost in payments processing and demand for technology outsourcing from banks helped Jack Henry & Associates Inc. raise its fiscal second-quarter revenue by 15% from a year earlier to $242.6 million.

Consorcio de Tarjetas Dominicanas SA, or CardNET, plans to use VeriFone Systems Inc.’s Total Protect encryption service, the payment terminal maker announced Jan. 31.

PayPal Inc. last week released a new set of changes in its user agreement for Indian customers in a move one observer says helps the company avoid Reserve Bank of India scrutiny.

I saw the future at the Northeast Acquirers Association conference in January and realized I had seen it before.

Visa Canada insists the Canadian Competition Bureau’s legal challenge to eliminate the company’s consumer-protection policies has no merit and would be harmful to consumers.

Companies providing payment gateways, loyalty programs, and authorization and related services for Visa-branded transactions have improved their compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, Visa Inc. announced Jan. 27.

For nearly every sales force in nearly every industry, selling based on price can be a losing game; someone is always willing to sell for less.

Various terminal makers have come out with their own devices and services designed to support payment card acceptance using mobile phones. But one independent sales organization has decided to do so on its own, and at least one observer says the company could succeed with the proper marketing.

The PCI Security Standards Council is seeking to broaden the scope of industry participation as it empanels its third set of new advisory board members since the initial board convened in 2007.

For the second consecutive year, North American online merchants improved their fraud-management performance, demonstrating they can counter crooks’ efforts when using appropriate fraud-prevention systems, new research suggests.