Retailers

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.

Visa Inc.’s most recent statistics of merchant compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard shows that 100% of the largest U.S. merchants—those processing more than 1 million annual Visa transactions—have validated their point-of-sale systems as not storing prohibited data.

VeriFone Systems Inc. beat Wall Street’s expectations for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31 based on strong North American sales and a rebounding Latin American market, and executives at the payment-terminal maker predict demand for wireless payment systems and gas-station terminals will help drive future earnings.

Payment-terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. on Aug. 24 reported net income of $18.5 million for the fiscal third quarter ended July 31, up 11.5% from $16.6 million during the same period last year. Net revenues totaled $265.5 million, up 25.7% from $211.3 million and a company record, Douglas G. Bergeron, VeriFone CEO, noted in a news release.

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 today, the payments company contends.

The merchant-processing unit of Barclaycard UK in July experienced an almost double-digit increase in spending by its merchant clients’ credit and debit card customers in the United Kingdom compared with the same month last year, challenging the notion that consumer confidence has declined, Barclaycard announced recently.

Many PCI compliance programs that independent sales organizations and acquirers offer their merchants are beginning to prove their value, says Deana Rich, president of Van Nuys, Calif.-based Rich Consulting.

Payment processor RBS WorldPay Inc. has class A certified Way Systems Inc.’s way5000 mobile point-of-sale device for use on its network.

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

Banco Nacional de Costa Rica ordered more than 13,000 Hypercom Corp. Optimum countertop and mobile payment terminals, which it plans to distribute to merchants throughout Costa Rica.

Visa Inc.’s most recent statistics of merchant compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard shows that 100% of the largest U.S. merchants—those processing more than 1 million annual Visa transactions—have validated their point-of-sale systems as not storing prohibited data.