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This is an informative blog dedicated to covering merchant services - credit card processing, Pin Based Debit, ACH processing, Remote Deposit Capture, Virtual Check, API integration and Payment Gateways.
Merchant Services News
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This is another example of a hacked credit card terminal. Companies can avoid security compromises with First Data's transarmor product. Transarmor uses tokenization to encrypt card data, this encryption guarantees the safety of the card users data.
Solitude Mountain Resort’s credit card system was hacked into during the past couple of weeks and customers’ information was stolen.
The resort said it has heard from several patrons whose information had been lifted, although Solitude officials believe the breach affected only a handful of people over perhaps a two-week period.
Image via CrunchBase
In some circles, the notion of a smartphone acting like a credit or debit card is fascinating, and you see story upon story about mobile payment-enabled smartphones and the potential rise of PayPal, the telcos, and such as the new payment processors. Who cares? Even if Visa and MasterCard were somehow to let go of that billion-dollar processing business, you're merely replacing one financial processor with another.
The fact that a smartphone could act as a card is an inconsequential change. You still have to carry a wallet, and as long as that's the case, a simple plastic card remains easier to use, given that the technology for reading them is universal and all the proposed mobile alternatives require new, often separate, readers and work only with certain vendors -- you'll still be carrying plastic for the other banks' and merchants' systems. As a friend recently said, payments can't get more mobile than they already are.
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ATLANTA, Dec 21, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing, today released its First Data SpendTrend(R) Mid-Month Flash analysis for the first half of December 2011 compared to the same period in December 2010. SpendTrend tracks same-store consumer spending by credit, signature debit, PIN debit, EBT cards and checks at U.S. merchant locations.
For the first two weeks of December 2011, overall dollar volume growth was steady compared to November levels. Card spending growth was stronger than this period last year. Retail dollar volume and transaction growth were both up from November. Among retail categories, clothing/accessory and general merchandise stores posted healthy dollar volume growth in early December and were up significantly from November.
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More people are using credit cards over debit cards, and that's pushing growth at MasterCard and Visa, Sterne Agee analyst Greg Smith told CNBC Wednesday.
According to First Data, which processes information for the credit-card companies, credit-card use is up more than 10 percent in the third quarter, compared with 6 percent for debit cards, which takes payments directly from a checking or savings account.
"They've had a pretty good run," Smith said of credit cards. "Credit cards are a very good business. As you look ahead, debit cards are a little less profitable, so expect banks to push people to credit."