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Transaction Trends Online |
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In the December 2009 Issue of Transaction Trends: 
- Sales Incentives That Work
- PCI’s Evolutionary Process
- Brave New World for Payments
- Special Series: Startup Stories, Part 2
- And much more...
Visit the Transaction Trends Web Site
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ETA Glossary Online |
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The ETA Encyclopedia of Terminology for the Acquiring Industry is now online! Need a good definition for P2P? Need to know what a Merchant Descriptor is? Our online glossary has the information and its been vetted by industry experts, so you can depend ion it. Give it a try! |
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Featured Articles
Intuit announced Dec. 19 that it will pay approximately $131 million to
acquire electronic payment processing solutions provider Electronic Clearing
House (ECHO). Intuit said the acquisition will help it deliver
solutions that address the most commonly utilized payment options, such as
credit card, debit card, automated clearing house, gift card, check
verification, collection, guarantee, and conversion. The deal is similar to one announced and then withdrawn in early 2007.
Among ECHO's offerings are
check, debit card, and credit card processing, as well as check verification,
collection, guarantee services, and ACH capabilities. Following the deal's
expected closure in the first quarter of 2008, ECHO will become a wholly owned
Intuit subsidiary. "Since our last discussions with ECHO, we've continued to
survey the market and believe today, as we did then, that ECHO is a great
strategic fit for Intuit," said Intuit small business group general manager Brad
Smith.
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Amex, First Data Sign Processing Deal |
American Express and First Data Corp. have signed an
agreement under which First Data will offer American Express Card acceptance as
part of an integrated solution for small- and medium-sized merchants. Specific
terms and conditions of the agreement are not being disclosed.
Under the agreement, American Express will retain the
acceptance contract with participating merchants, establish merchant pricing,
and receive the same transactional information it does today. First Data will
provide payment processing services to merchants on behalf of American Express
for American Express card transactions under the new agreement. New merchants
who sign up for the program will receive an easy, cost-effective, all-in-one
solution with the convenience of a single source for statements, settlement and
customer service for all major card brands. The program will be available to
merchants that are new to American Express Card acceptance in the second
quarter of 2008.
"First Data continues to bring innovation to the
marketplace that is focused on customer-based solutions," said Brian
Mooney, president of First Data Merchant Services. "Through our
relationship with American Express, merchants will benefit from a single
payment for all major card transactions, consolidated statements, a single
point of contact for all customer service, and a one stop shop for all their
payment needs."
"This innovative program with First Data offers small
to mid-size merchants the choice of a new way to streamline payment acceptance
so that they can focus more time on serving customers and growing their
business," said Kim Goodman, executive vice president, Merchant Services
North America, American Express. "Consumers will also enjoy the
convenience of being able to use the American Express Card at even more
locations and the opportunity to earn valuable rewards whenever they use their
Card."
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Electronic payments leaving checks behind |
The number of checks we write keeps going down and electronic payments are increasing, according to a Federal Reserve study released Monday. The study found that more than
two-thirds of noncash payments were made electronically in 2006, up from 50 percent in 2003, the last year
studied by the Fed.
In 2006, the Fed counted 62.7 billion electronic payments in
the United States,
compared to 30.6 billion checks paid. The electronic payments had a value of
$34.1 trillion, while the checks paid had a value of $41.7 trillion.
The annual growth rate of electronic payment transactions
was 12.4 percent from 2003 to 2006, compared to a 6.4 percent annual decline
for checks. One of the biggest drivers of increasing electronic payments came
from debit card transactions.
The Fed has been cutting back check-processing
operations in recent years as a result of the increasing use of electronic
payments. The Charlotte Fed branch will shift work to Atlanta in the second quarter of 2009. A
small staff will remain to print so-called "substitute checks" --
hard copies of electronically shipped checks.
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Pipeline Data Buys COCARD, Merges with Innovative Resource Alliance |
Pipeline Data says it has signed a binding letter of intent to acquire Innovative
Resource Alliance, the parent corporation of TenderCard, a gift,
loyalty and stored value solutions provider with more than 12,000 merchants based in
Falmouth, Massachusetts and Merchant Services Network, a retail merchant
services provider based in West Palm Beach, Florida, in exchange for up to 25.7
million shares of Pipeline Data Common Stock, subject to certain earn in
provisions. In addition to its current portfolio of 5,000 merchants, IRA has
initiated negotiations and executed letters of intent to purchase for cash
portfolios totaling approximately 15,000 merchants.
As merged, Pipeline
Data/IRA will acquire COCARD(R) Marketing Group, LLC ("COCARD"), a Nashville,
Tennessee-based merchant services provider catering primarily to small and
medium-sized retail accounts. COCARD currently services over 25,000 merchants.
The Definitive Merger Agreement to acquire COCARD for approximately $101 million
in cash was entered into on October 22, 2007.
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Read more...
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Southern DataComm Acquires eN-Concert |
Southern DataComm (SDC),
Inc. has announced the completion of its
acquisition of eN-Concert, a suite of solutions from Ingenico, Inc., a leading
global provider of secure transaction and payment solutions. The acquisition
represents a strategic move by SDC into the tier-one, multi-lane retail market
and signals a long-term commitment towards the expansion of their end-to-end
suite of products and services to a broader customer base. The eN-Concert team
will continue to manage, deliver and support its current suite of products and
customers, as well as, leverage SDC’s payment delivery and managed payment
services. This move continues to redefine SDC as a strategic single source
provider for the processing of all electronic payments.
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Read more...
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The Aegenis Group Renews Contract as Trainer for PCI-SSC |
The Aegenis Group has re-signed with the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) to be the worldwide trainer of Qualified Security Assessors (QSAs). The contract
marks a renewal of the existing relationship between The Aegenis Group and the PCI-SSC. Last year, The Aegenis Group trained over 1,000 QSAs and the coming year should see almost 50% more trainees attending the sessions.
"The Aegenis Group's long experience with the security
requirements of the Payment Card Industry and with the Payment Card Industry
Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) make them a logical choice to conduct the
training," said Robert Russo, General Manager of the PCI SSC. "We
were pleased to renew the contract, as their deep knowledge of both the
industry and the PCI DSS ensures that the training the QSAs receive will be
consistent and comprehensive.
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Read more...
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