Visa Inc. said it plans to raise its Visa Easy Payment Service “no signature required” limit from $25 to $50 for two key U.S. merchant categories. Starting in October 2012, discount stores and grocery stores/supermarkets in the U.S. can accept Visa cards for transactions up to $50 without requiring a cardholder signature or PIN, or…
Service to the Fleet
With fuel costs again on the rise, a fleet card network can attract new business while offering fleet managers the safety, security and reporting tools they need to be successful. By Howard Riell, Associate Editor. Fleet cards are a nice piece of business for c-store operators. But the key to keeping that business growing is…
Study by NACS Points To Hidden Card Fees
Study shows as gas prices increased 80% between 2004 and 2011, card fees grew 180%. A new study by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) called “Hidden Bank Fees Siphon Money from Customers and Merchants at the Pump,” shows drivers are paying 6-10 cents a gallon in hidden bank fees every time they purchase…
Building a Better Back Office
Back-office systems will continue to serve c-store operators better in 2012 and beyond. “The quality of point-of-sale (POS) software that is available now, and at lower prices, is changing the market,” said Rick Yost, operations manager for Dead River Co. in Bangor, Maine. “There are some great products out there moving into the clouds, where…
Will EMV be DOA?
Visa is encouraging retailers to move toward the EMV technology seen in Europe, but some argue by the time it’s implemented in the U.S., the technology will be outdated. By Erin Rigik, Associate Editor. Visa this fall announced plans to speed up the migration to contact chip and contactless EMV chip credit card technology in…
Shop Around The Clock
7-Eleven has an array of gifts for last minute shoppers this holiday season. With retailers opening their stores even earlier for Black Friday door-buster sales, shoppers started the hunt for December holiday deals as early as Thanksgiving evening, jockeying for flat-screen TVs and fighting over waffle irons. But shopping in the middle of the night…
Breaking News: Lawsuit Filed Over Fed’s Swipe Fee Ruling
“The Federal Reserve missed an opportunity to give consumers the relief that they deserve and this needs to be corrected,” says NACS president and CEO Hank Armour. Flawed debit card swipe fee reform regulations issued by the Federal Reserve have allowed big banks to continue charging unjustifiably high swipe fees and discouraged price competition among…
Heartland Releases State-Specific Durbin Statistics
Heartland Payment Systems shows average savings per merchant in states across the U.S. following Durbin. Heartland Payment Systems, a national payments processor, has released the first state-specific data about the Durbin Amendment’s actual impact on business owners in specific states. The data was gathered between Oct. 1-16, 2011, from across Heartland’s 250,000 merchant locations. The…
ATM Council Files Antitrust Lawsuit
Visa and MasterCard to face litigation on antitrust charges. The National ATM Council, a group representing operators of automated teller machines (ATMs), filed a lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard accusing the credit and debit card issuers of violating antitrust laws by fixing the price of ATM access fees, the Huffington Post reported. The lawsuit was…
Stacking the Cards In Your Favor
General purpose prepaid debit cards are rapidly gaining favor with consumers as an alternative to closed-loop gift cards. By John Lofstock, Editor. Sales of open-loop prepaid cards, issued by banks and credit card companies and able to be used at multiple establishments, are only going to go up as more consumers come to appreciate their…