Blackhawk unveils open-network gift cards

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

September 20, 2009

Blackhawk Network, the largest third-party gift card provider, has announced the availability of its Rewards Visa Gift Card through its B2B program. Cards can…

Coinstar continues '09 march with Kroger deal

August 2, 2009

Despite this year's challenging economic environment, Coinstar Inc. has had a monumental 2009, so far. In the past two months, the company has announced the…

Sweden testing mobile phone payments

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

July 28, 2009

There has been much speculation about the mobile phone as the all-in-one payment device of the future, and while adoption of that technology has taken off in…

Sheetz completes mobile payment trial

May 19, 2009

Progressive Grocer: Sheetz Inc. completed its multi-city NFC mobile payment pilot with Wright Express Corp. and ViVOtech. During the trial, drivers used their…

Critics tear into PCI at congressional hearing

April 5, 2009

Computerworld: At a congressional hearing last week, federal lawmakers and retail industry officials contended that the PCI security rules have done little to…

Stickers enable NFC payments on cell phones

March 31, 2009

USA Today: Payments by cell phone at retail have been slow to take off in the U.S. MasterCard and Blaze Mobile have unveiled high-tech stickers that aim to…

Nokia invests in mobile payments startup

March 26, 2009

Yahoo! News: Nokia Corp., the world's largest maker of cell phones, is making a large investment in California-based Obopay Inc., a startup that's pushing…

Coinstar named top performer in prepaid category by retailers

March 26, 2009

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Coinstar E-Payment Services, a subsidiary of Coinstar Inc., has been named a top prepaid performer in the 2009 Convenience Store Decisions…

Paymo aims to make mobile payments a reality in the U.S.

March 11, 2009

Fortune: The mobile phone has yet to become a tool for payments in the United States, largely because the different players in the mobile payment ecosystem …

ProcessAway turns iPhones into credit card terminals

February 24, 2009

TUSTIN, Calif. — Apple's best-selling iPhone can double as a credit card processing device, thanks to a new app called ProcessAway.

Carrefour investing in NFC contactless payments

January 29, 2009

International Supermarket News: Beginning February 11, Carrefour will work together with the country's leading mobile operators to put in place a series of…

WINCOR: Wincor Nixdorf offers outsourced debit, credit processing for retailers and FIs

by Tracy Kitten — Editor, AMC

January 21, 2009

PADERBORN, Germany — An ability to provide a more comprehensive package of services and solutions for retail and banking is something Wincor Nixdorf AG…

Payments processor uncovers what might be biggest breach ever

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

January 20, 2009

Heartland Payment Systems has learned it was the victim of a security breach within its processing system in 2008. The company believes the intrusion is…

NRF: New ArcaTech solution allows tighter cash control in retail environments

January 11, 2009

MEBANE, N.C. — ArcaTech Systems, a supplier of transaction automation solutions for the financial, retail and self-service industries, is highlighting its new…

Cash purchases are on the rise as shoppers try to manage debt

November 24, 2008

MSNBC.com: Cash or credit? For more Americans, who have already maxed out their credit cards or are just trying to manage their spending better in the tough…

Gift card balances are covered, FDIC says

November 16, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the entity that guarantees bank deposits, has issued an opinion stating that funds on gift cards and…

Sears brings back layaway

November 16, 2008

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears announced it will offer layaway on a wide selection of merchandise. The program was made available to shoppers on Sunday, Nov.

J.C. Penney, Sears get aggressive on gift cards for holiday season

November 13, 2008

New York Times: J.C. Penney plans to devote part of its holiday campaign to reassuring shoppers about the redeemability of its gift cards, much the same way…

VeriFone launches contactless pinpad for self-service POS

November 5, 2008

PARIS — VeriFone Holdings, Inc., has introduced a contactless version of its popular PINpad 1000SE, further expanding the industry's broadest line of…

NFC mobile phone payments come to Latin America

November 4, 2008

PARIS — Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech announced that its provisioning software for Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile payments is being used in the first…