Cardline back issues from July 2008:
MERCHANT GROUP LABELS NEW VISA GAS INTERCHANGE A 'STUNT' ...
Jul 04, 2008 ... Visa Inc. says its new interchange rate for fuel purchases will be cheaper for gas-station owners, but the National Association of Convenience Stores contends the new rate will not always mean lower fees. Merchant banks pay card issuers interchange and pass the expense along to their ...
... WHILE CARD BRAND REDUCES FUEL TRANSACTION 'HOLD TIME'.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Visa Inc. also announced yesterday a new processing method the company says will speed the clearing of card transactions at fuel pumps. In October, Visa plans to launch what it calls Real-Time Clearing, which will process fuel transactions immediately instead of at the end of each day. The ...
WITNESSES TELL SUBCOMMITTEE CARD ISSUERS EXPLOIT STUDENTS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Credit card companies that deploy irresponsible and misleading tactics to sign up college-age consumers as cardholders should be reined in with legislation, said witnesses at a hearing held yesterday by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer ...
PCI TO MANDATE REVIEW OF WEB-FACING SOFTWARE.
Jul 04, 2008 ... A recommendation that merchants using Web applications, such as shopping-cart software, use a firewall and have all customized software reviewed for vulnerabilities becomes a Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council mandate on June 30. Known as requirement 6.6, the measure is ...
STATE AUDITOR FINDS WEB SECURITY FLAWS AT ARIZONA UNIVERSITIES.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Investigators have found security flaws in the Web-based computer applications of Arizona's three public universities, according to a report released last Friday by the Arizona Office of the Auditor General. Web-based applications enable users to view or update information using Web ...
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS WILL PAY FOR MOBILE SERVICES AT FIRST.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Financial institutions will pay for consumer mobile-payment services until they develop revenue-generating methods, panelists at SourceMedia's Mobile Commerce Summit in Las Vegas said Monday. "There's not a great likelihood financial institutions will charge a customer where they are not ...
PCI COUNCIL TO RELEASE DATABASE OF QUALIFIED SECURITY ASSESSORS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council says that before the end of September it will launch a database of consultants registered as qualified security assessors, who help merchants determine weakness in their payment systems. The council's Web site currently lists only the ...
BRIEFS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... JPMorgan Chase & Co. has renewed its contract with the State of Colorado to use prepaid debit cards to distribute government-benefit payments to 127,000 households. ...Consulting firm Mercator Advisory ...
'NAIVE' COMPANY FAILS TO NOTIFY CUSTOMERS OF DATA BREACH.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Direct Marketing Services Inc. this month is belatedly contacting approximately 51,000 customers whose credit card account data were exposed last December when hackers broke into the computer systems that store customers' transaction data from major card brands. David Milgrom, president of ...
PCI COUNCIL ADDS 2 TYPES OF PIN DEVICES TO SECURITY REQUIREMENTS.(Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council)(Brief article)
Jul 04, 2008 ... The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has added unattended payment terminals and hardware-security modules to its testing program for PIN-entry devices, the council announced today. Many such devices already are evaluated by the same PCI-approved labs that evaluate ...
CHOCKSTONE AND RBS LYNK JOIN FORCES TO SELL LOYALTY PRODUCTS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Chockstone Inc. says it has signed an agreement with RBS Lynk, the U.S. payment-processing subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, to sell loyalty services to RBS merchant-acquiring customers. The agreement calls for RBS to recommend Chockstone as a loyalty processor to its merchant ...
GLOBAL PAYMENTS 'RIDES RAILS' OF HSBC TO NEW MARKETS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... A flexible processing platform and a global business partner have helped Global Payments Inc. expand overseas. The Atlanta-based transaction processor and United Kingdom-based HSBC Bank Plc announced earlier this month a joint venture to provide payment-processing services to merchants in ...
NETSPEND FOUNDERS START VENTURE CAPITAL FUND FOR UNBANKED.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Roy and Bertrand Sosa, brothers who founded prepaid card provider NetSpend Corp., have formed Mpower Venture LP, a venture-capital fund designed to invest in companies that help financially underserved consumers around the world. Mpower announced last week that it has invested in Sapphire ...
BANKS USING SPECIAL BAGS TO DEPOSIT FLOOD-DAMAGED CURRENCY.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Banks inundated by Iowa's floods have begun receiving special bags to deposit damaged and contaminated bank notes removed from ATMs and bank vaults, Annette Owens, assistant vice president of Cash Services at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, tells ATM&Debit News, a CardLine sister ...
TREASURY ASKS FLOOD VICTIMS TO ACCEPT BENEFITS ELECTRONICALLY.
Jul 04, 2008 ... The U.S. Treasury Department is recommending federal-benefits recipients in states affected by recent flooding to switch their means of accepting benefits funds to direct deposit from checks. The recommendation is intended to ensure benefits continue to reach recipients even after a ...
BRIEFS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Electronic Payment Exchange has signed a multiyear payment-processing agreement with Pioneer Telephone, a long-distance service provider. ...Comdata Corp. has named Tracey Power senior vice president of human resources. ...National Capital Federal Credit Union is working with Primax to add ...
THOUSANDS WILL RALLY FOR CUT IN INTERCHANGE, MERCHANT SAYS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... The lead plaintiff in a merchant class-action lawsuit challenging the interchange rate-setting policies of Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide expects thousands of consumers to attend a rally Thursday at a Chevron gas station in Irvine, Calif., to support legislation that would slash credit ...
AD SPENDING UP FOR SOME IN PAYMENTS INDUSTRY DESPITE ECONOMY.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Payments industry businesses increased their ad spending during the first quarter despite the weak economy, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Of the top 10 spenders, six spent more in the first three months of this year than in the corresponding period a year ago. One major issuer, ...
ANALYST CUTS BANKS' PRICE TARGETS AND EARNINGS ESTIMATES.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Credit deterioration, which began in the middle of 2007, likely worsened in the second quarter ended June 30 because charge-offs and nonperforming loans rose at some regional and national banks, according to Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst David George. "Credit trends will continue to show ...
VOICE-BASED PAYMENTS SERVICE DESIGNED FOR MOBILE MERCHANTS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Planet Payment Inc., a Long Beach, N.Y.-based payment-services company, says it launched this week Payment BuyVoice, a service that enables merchants to complete payment card transactions using a telephone. The service relies on voice-recognition software to handle the transaction. To use ...
DISCOVER TO DOUBLE REWARDS FOR U.S. TROOPS THIS SUMMER.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Discover Financial Services is offering U.S. military personnel and their families double cash-back bonuses and double airline miles on purchases made with Discover cards this summer, the company announced today. The double rewards are limited to the first $1,000 spent at more than 175 ...
HOUSE PANEL CLEARS THE WAY FOR BAN ON WEB GAMBLING.
Jul 04, 2008 ... The House Financial Services Committee last week rejected a bill that would delay a proposed regulation from the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Treasury Department that would ban Internet gambling, according to the American Banker, a CardLine sister publication. The bill would have ...
GROUP TO PROMOTE ONLINE AUTHENTICATION AND PAYMENTS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... A group of major online and technology companies has established the Information Card Foundation to promote the development of Internet-enabled digital identities using what it calls information cards, which would be similar to electronic wallets and include such data as credit or debit ...
BRIEFS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... In response to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation, Visa Inc. has changed a rule that prohibited financial institutions from allowing merchants to waive entry of a personal identification number for most debit transactions, according to the DOJ. The department was investigating the ...
VISA NO LONGER REQUIRES PIN NUMBER FOR SMALL TRANSACTIONS ...
Jul 04, 2008 ... Feeling the weight of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation, Visa Inc. yesterday announced a change to an operating regulation that previously forced merchants to favor higher-interchange signature-debit purchases over lower-interchange PIN-debit transactions. To help speed up lines ...
...WHICH CLEARS THE WAY FOR MORE PIN-LESS DEBIT, OBSERVERS SAY.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Although the U.S. Department of Justice mentioned small-ticket and Internet purchases in a news release, Visa Inc.'s amended rule will contribute to growth of PIN-less debit for the payment of utility bills, such as electric, water and cellular telephone bills, says Steven Rathgaber, ...
TREASURY TOUTING PREPAID CARDS FOR BENEFITS IN 13 MORE STATES.
Jul 04, 2008 ... The U.S. Department of the Treasury is expanding promotion of its Direct Express prepaid debit card to 13 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C., this month. The bureau began promoting the cards earlier this year and intends to complete marketing to all states this fall ....
FIVE FANS TO MEET THEIR MUSIC IDOLS IN MASTERCARD AD CAMPAIGN.
Jul 04, 2008 ... MasterCard Worldwide yesterday announced its "Roots of Rock" sweepstakes, which will allow five winning U.S. cardholders a chance to meet Jon Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton or Kenny Chesney where the artist got his start in music. The card brand built the campaign on MasterCard's "Priceless" ...
ALASKA AIRLINES GOES CASHLESS; SOUTHWEST POISED TO FOLLOW.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Alaska Airlines today became the nation's third airline to eliminate cash purchases on all of its flights. Beginning next month, the airline will accept only debit and credit cards for onboard purchases of meals, drinks and in-flight entertainment. Southwest Airlines may be next. A ...
CARDTRONICS TO DEPLOY 25 ATMS IN TWO UNIVERSAL THEME PARKS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Independent sales organization Cardtronics Inc. is teaming with GE Money to deploy ATMs inside the Universal Hollywood and Universal Orlando theme parks, the companies announced last week. The agreement represents Cardtronics' highest-profile foray into the entertainment and event market, ...
3 INDICTED FOR USING CARD DATA TO STEAL $2 MILLION FROM CITI ATMS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... The United States Attorneys Office has indicted three Ukrainian nationals for allegedly stealing $2 million from Citibank cardholder accounts by withdrawing the money from Citibank ATMs. The indictment says Yuriy Rakushchynets, Ivan Biltse and Angela Kitaeva used stolen card information to ...
BRIEFS.
Jul 04, 2008 ... Discover Financial Services has completed its acquisition of Diners Club International from Citigroup. ...TSYS Acquiring Solutions has approved ExaDigm Inc.'s XD1000 and XD2000/XD2100SP point-of-sale terminals for ...
ISO INCOME MAY DECREASE IF REVOLUTIONCARD SUCCEEDS.(Financial report)
Jul 11, 2008 ... Independent sales organizations may experience decreased revenue if RevolutionCard, an upstart consumer credit card brand, succeeds in securing support from enough merchants and consumers to compete with Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide using its proprietary low-fee network. "It's a ...
CAPITAL ONE CONTINUES DECOUPLED DEBIT TRIALS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Nearly two months after Capital One Financial Corp. ended two decoupled-debit pilots at Sheetz Inc. and Ukrop's Super Markets Inc.(CardLine, 5/9), the McLean, Va.-based company is soliciting customers nationwide with a new offer. In the latest test, Cap One is offering a decoupled debit ...
NETSPEND TEACHES KIDS, HIRES EXECS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... NetSpend Corp., an Austin, Texas-based prepaid card provider, is working with California Check Cashing Stores LLC to offer one-hour money-management classes to high school students in northern California. Based in Oakland, Calif., California Check Cashing has 97 stores and offers ...
POSTAL SERVICE CREDIT UNION OUTSOURCES MANAGEMENT OF 5 ATMS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... The U.S. Postal Service Federal Credit Union is outsourcing management of its five ATMs to Select-A-Branch, a King of Prussia, Pa.-based independent sales organization. "Our managers no longer are saddled with cash ordering or working on the machines when they break down," says Steve ...
SOME CARDHOLDERS WANT MOBILE MARKETING, BANKING.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Twenty-eight percent of consumers interested in receiving marketing messages from merchant brands on their mobile phones and other devices anticipate also checking their account balances using mobile devices in the next year, according to a study released by Aite Group LLC. Additionally, ...
DISCOVER BUILDS ANOTHER FOOTHOLD IN CHINA.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Discover Financial Services yesterday announced the opening of a new subsidiary, Discover Information Technology Ltd., in the People's Republic of China, to support Discover's data-analysis and modeling operations. The new operation in Shanghai's Huangpu District will house 45 analysts ....
FRENCH CONSUMERS AND MERCHANTS EMBRACE NFC PAYMENTS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... French mobile operators and banks will extend their groundbreaking Near Field Communication mobile-payment trial through at least the end of the year, as results from the trial's first six months suggest both consumers and merchants like the new way to pay. Surveys from among the 1,000 ...
BRIEFS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Comdata Corp. has named Todd Joseph senior vice president of information technology. ...PaySimple has hired Sherri Hammons as vice president of engineering. ...Bank of America has named Ian O'Doherty as Europe Card ...
FRAUD COSTS THREE BANKS NEARLY $6 MILLION ...
Jul 11, 2008 ... Three Ukrainian nationals produced fraudulent debit cards to illegally withdraw nearly $6 million from Citibank N.A., Washington Mutual Inc. and First Bank of St. Louis, according to an FBI affidavit recently obtained by CardLine sister publication ATM&Debit News. A subsequent indictment ...
... BUT CARDTRONICS SAYS ITS ATMS ARE SECURE.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Cardtronics Inc. is defending the security of its ATMs following a recent breach of machines it owns housed in 7-Eleven Inc. convenience stores. The breach has led to nearly $1 million in fraudulent withdrawals from ATMs throughout New York, according to court documents. The Houston-based ...
EBAY, PAYPAL AND GMAIL TEAM TO FIGHT PHISHING.
Jul 11, 2008 ... EBay Inc. and PayPal Inc. today announced a partnership with Gmail, Google Inc.'s e-mail service, to reduce fraudulent e-mails and phishing attacks. With phishing, criminals attempt to steal consumer payment information by posing as legitimate institutions in e-mail messages. Beginning ...
GIFTCLIXX SIGNS DEAL WITH BLACKSTONE.(Brief article)
Jul 11, 2008 ... GiftClixx, a third-party gift card-distribution company founded in June, announced today its first agreement to distribute cards, with Miami-based Blackstone Calling Cards Inc. GiftClixx will help Blackstone negotiate with retailers the terms and conditions for gift card sales and ...
REVOLUTIONCARD FACES MULTIPLE HURDLES TO THRIVE.(Brief article)
Jul 11, 2008 ... RevolutionCard is unlikely to gain mass scale in the near future because the upstart credit card brand must overcome multiple hurdles, including gaining mass merchant and consumer acceptance, note industry observers. The challenge for fledgling network brands is moving beyond major ...
NETSPEND RENEWS CONTRACT WITH ACE CASH EXPRESS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... NetSpend Corp., a prepaid debit card provider, has renewed its agreement with Ace Cash Express Inc., a check casher and payday lender, to distribute NetSpend prepaid cards for an additional seven years. Since 2002, when the agreement began, Ace has sold more than 1.6 million general ...
VISA ANNOUNCES NEW SPECIFICATION FOR CONTACTLESS CARDS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Visa Inc. last week announced it is moving to a new contactless card specification, Visa Contactless 2.0, that is based on the EMV standard used around the world to secure smart card transactions. "With this new specification, Visa contactless initiatives will follow an EMV model where key ...
BRIEFS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Payment card processor IRN Payment Systems has added Ingenico S.A.'s Aqua point-of-sale terminal to its free terminal program, according to Ingenico. ...Amazon.com Inc. customers today can begin using Bill Me Later Inc.'s payments service to pay for purchases. ...The state of Alaska has ...
CREDIT CARD SPENDING JUMPS IN MAY.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Credit card spending rebounded in May after falling in April for the first time since May 2005, according to the Federal Reserve's monthly Consumer Credit survey, a possible sign that consumers more often are relying on plastic to cover mounting expenses, Dennis Moroney, research director ...
SOME MERCHANTS STILL PUT TOO MUCH DATA ON RECEIPTS.(Brief article)
Jul 11, 2008 ... Just slightly more than one month has passed since President Bush signed the Credit and Debit Card Receipt Clarification Act of 2007, which quashed nearly 300 pending class-action lawsuits against retailers for printing credit and debit card expiration dates on customer receipts. The law, ...
BLACKSTONE SAYS GIFTCLIXX DEAL WILL HELP IT GROW.(Brief article)
Jul 11, 2008 ... Using GiftClixx LLC's system will enable Blackstone Calling Card Inc. to better compete with other card-distribution companies, Carlos Rodriguez, Blackstone president, tells CardLine. Gary Dinkin, GiftClixx CEO, founded the company in June to compete with card-distribution companies ...
VENDOR ENABLES CONSUMERS TO PAY MORTGAGES WITH PLASTIC.(Brief article)
Jul 11, 2008 ... ChargeSmart LLC today launched a Web site that enables consumers to use credit cards to pay mortgages and other bills for a fee and a percentage of the transaction amount. Users of the Web site also can use cards to pay auto and student loans and utility bills, Mitch Friedman, a co-founder ...
PERCENT OF COMPLIANT MERCHANTS INCREASED IN 1ST QUARTER: VISA.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Merchant compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard increased overall in the first quarter, Visa Inc. reported last week. Seventy-seven percent of large, so-called Level 1 merchants that process more than 6 million Visa transactions per year had validated their ...
NEVADA ISOS OUTPACE THEIR PEERS.(independent sales organizations)(Brief article)
Jul 11, 2008 ... Nevada-based independent sales organizations outstrip their competitors across the nation in annual payment card sales volume, according to a recent analysis from First Annapolis Consulting. By taking a ratio between the number of ISOs based in a state and the payment card sales volume ...
MORE BANKS INVEST IN ONLINE MARKETING DESPITE POOR RESULTS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... The Internet has yet to take hold as a customer-acquisition tool for card marketers, according to Ken Patterson, director of credit advisory service at Mercator Advisory Group. Consumers use the Internet to research offers on such Web sites as creditcards.com but rarely click on banner ...
BRIEFS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Contactless payment card manufacturer Oberthur Card Systems of America Corp. has changed its name to Oberthur Technologies of America Corp.. ... Air Academy Federal Credit Union, Amarillo Community Federal Credit Union, Colorado Springs Credit Union, Hereford Texas Federal Credit Union, ...
NEW MASTERCARD 'PRICELESS' AD TARGETS U.S. HISPANICS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... MasterCard Worldwide has targeted the Hispanic market for eight years, but this week the card brand launched its first marketing effort designed specifically for U.S. Hispanics. MasterCard's new "Priceless-"themed ad features the Mexican tradition of Lucha Libre wrestling and a revamp of ...
MPAYY SEEKS GROWTH AFTER SECURING ADDITIONAL FINANCING.(Brief article)
Jul 11, 2008 ... Mpayy Inc., a Chicago-based alternative-payments company, says it will use additional funding from U.S. Bancorp to grow its e-commerce, mobile commerce and widget-based payment services. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp also provided Mpayy with funding last year. "We want to tap into larger ...
DEBT BUYER FACES A CHALLENGING YEAR AHEAD.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., a buyer of charged-off credit card accounts and other loans, faces a "difficult collections environment" that will adversely affect the company in the second half of the year, prompting Jefferies & Co. analyst Richard Shane this week to downgrade the ...
MONEYPASS SIGNS ON ANOTHER COMMUNITY BANK.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Oregon Pacific Bank, a community bank based in Florence, Ore., has joined the MoneyPass surcharge-free ATM network, both companies announced yesterday. Since the beginning of the year about 100 financial institutions have joined MoneyPass, Doug Miraglia, MoneyPass president, tells ...
PEMCO TECHNOLOGIES IS OFFERING NEW PREPAID PRODUCTS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Pemco Technology Services Inc., an arm of Pemco Corp., is offering a new set of prepaid cards to credit unions and banks, the company announced this week. Based in Seattle, Pemco sells such services as credit and debit card processing, cardholder rewards, fraud prevention and ATM support ...
COBRANDING STILL AN EFFECTIVE CARDHOLDER LURE.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Cobranding is providing card issuers the most traction, says Megan Bramlette, managing associate at Auriemma Consulting Group, which is based in Westbury, N.Y. Issuers are creating relationships with retailers and sports teams to acquire cardholders. If a consumer already has an interest ...
UK COMPANY ACQUIRES DATACARD SOFTWARE PLATFORM.
Jul 11, 2008 ... Aconite, a United Kingdom-based provider of smart card services, and Datacard Corp. jointly announced Wednesday that Aconite has acquired Datacard's Affina Enterprise Platform software product. Datacard, a Minneapolis-based provider of identification and card-personalization products, has ...
BRIEFS.
Jul 11, 2008 ... MasterCard Worldwide today announced three additional seminars in the brand's Payment Card Industry Merchant Education Program intended to help merchants protect payment card data and reduce the likelihood of fraud. ...Plastic card manufacturer CPI Card Group has hired Gerry Blight as ...
DEAL CREATES LARGEST SURCHARGE-FREE ATM NETWORK.
Jul 18, 2008 ... Credit Union 24, a surcharge-free ATM network for credit unions, has signed a multiyear deal with Cardtronics Inc.'s Allpoint surcharge-free network following a successful trial that created the nation's largest surcharge-free ATM network for credit unions. Ben Psillas, president of ...