| Kiranas find a survival mantra in bill payment kiosks
MUMBAI: Tucked amidst a row of four-storey buildings on the crowded Nauzer Bharucha road in south central Mumbai is the 28-year-old Devashi Nathubhai general provisions store. Stacked neatly on plastic shelves towards the rear end of this 400 sq ft shop are ready-to-eat food and bakery items. Besides the shelves are 7-8 gunnysacks containing rice, wheat, pulses and other food grains. But a comparatively smaller spot within the shop narrates an interesting tale about Indian retailing. Occupying that spot is a computer, a bar code scanner and a thermal printer - the weapons store owner Nathubhai Karania and many of his ilk use to ward off competition from biggies like Subhiksha or Reliance Fresh. On an average, about 35-40 new customers visit the store to pay their landline, mobile and electricity bills or to make rail or air bookings or credit card payments.
Chase Paymentech Debuts Website for Small and Medium Businesses
DALLAS, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Chase Paymentech Solutions, LLC, has launched a new website designed to help small and medium sized businesses affordably accept credit card payments. The new site, http://merchantaccount.chasepaymentech.com, provides business owners with a simple, easy to use guide to access the latest Chase Paymentech payment processing tools. The site allows businesses to research payment products that fit their needs and offers quick access to experts who can customize a program to each business' requirements. These programs feature reliable terminals, low interchange rates to process credit card transactions and even custom gift card programs. Solutions can be designed for merchants who need secure payment solutions over the Internet, point-of- sale, telephone, or mail order.
Hang Seng Bank Selects VeriFone Contactless Solutions
SAN JOSE, Calif. - (Business Wire) VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) today announced it has been selected by Hang Seng Bank of Hong Kong to provide contactless payment solutions in support of the enJoy Card rollout. The Hang Seng enJoy Card is a co-branded credit card with retailer Jardine Matheson and the first credit card in Hong Kong to use the Visa payWave contactless payment technology, allowing cardholders to enjoy the convenience of fast and secure payments. VeriFone will supply the EMV-certified QX110 contactless reader and NURIT payment systems for use at merchant sites in the Jardine Matheson Group. "With the broadest product line of contactless solutions, VeriFone is well positioned to support this and other projects where contactless is being implemented throughout the region," said William C.
25 businesses rewarded for using HSBC EPOS machines
No fewer than 25 retailers representing a cross-section of the business community have won e235 each for swiping Credit Cards over an HSBC Point of Sales (EPOS) terminal during the first week of January 2008. During this busy month, particularly due to the euro changeover and sales, HSBC is giving retailers the opportunity to participate in a weekly draw every time they swipe a card through an HSBC EPOS.
The first draw, with 25 winning businesses who transacted payments over an HSBC EPOS from January 1 to date, took place on 7 January. The winners are: GS Superstore in Naxxar; Souvenirs Shop in Gudja; Saint James Hospital in Sliema; Top End Bortex in Sliema; Marios Hairstylist in Fgura; The Nuance Group in Gudja; Air Maltas Sales Office in Gudja; JB Stores in Lija; BHS in Sliema; Dorothy Perkins in Valletta; Mothercare in Sliema; Tower Supermarket in Sliema; Topline Centre in St Andrews; Marks and Spencer in Valletta; Medical Imaging Centre in Birkirkara; The Arches Restaurant in Mellieha; Smart Supermarket in Balzan; ARG Meats in BKara; The Model Shop in Iklin; Emm Enterprise in Bugibba; Monsoon Accessorize in Sliema; Zen Restaurant in St Julians; Wands Cash and Carry in Marsa; Scotts in Sliema; and Pizza Hut in St Julians.
Financial Institutions Choose Monitise Americas Mobile Financial ...
MILWAUKEE, Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Monitise Americas, LLC, the mobile banking and payments provider, today announced that NYCE Payments Network has signed agreements with ten new financial institutions to provide mobile financial services powered by Monitise Americas to their customers and members. NYCE Payments Network, LLC, is a leading U.S. debit card payments network and a division of Metavante (NYSE: MV) , a leading provider of banking and payments technology. The latest institutions to choose mobile services from Monitise Americas are: California Business Bank, Los Angeles, Calif.; First National Bank of LaGrange, LaGrange, Ill.; Gold Canyon Bank, Gold Canyon, Ariz.; INTRUST Bank, Wichita, Kan.; New Century Bank, Chicago, Ill.; Michigan Schools and Government Credit Union, Clinton Township, Mich.; PrimeSouth Bank, Waycross, Ga.; PyraMax Bank, Greenfield, Wis.; Seaside National Bank & Trust, Orlando, Fla.; and Summit Bank, Prescott, Ariz.
Ex-library official files suit
The former finance director of Sacramento's Public Library filed suit this week, saying he was wrongfully fired from that position after raising concerns about $650,000 in payments to a library staffer's company. Former finance director Anil Paul also alleges he was fired for refusing to approve directors' taxpayer-funded credit card expenses, including one official's $293 meal at The Palm restaurant in Boston and a $202 spa treatment in Orlando, according to the lawsuit and library documents. "I was concerned about my (accounting) license," said Paul, 59, who lives in Walnut Creek and earned $180,000 annually from the library. "I should not allow anyone to jeopardize my livelihood." .
QPR fans give thanks a billion times over
Bernie Ecclestone does not mince his words. "One thing’s for sure," he says. "If we owe anything, we pay it back." Ecclestone, one of the wealthiest men in sport with an estimated fortune of £2.24 billion, was not referring to his family policy on monthly credit card repayments. The Formula One impresario was alluding to the debts he inherited when, along with Flavio Briatore, another of motor racing’s more colourful characters, he took over Queens Park Rangers. Their arrival was greeted with rapture by long-suffering fans who in recent years have seen the club teeter from one calamity to another. The subsequent arrival of an even wealthier investor – Lakshmi Mittal, reputedly the world’s fifth-richest man – consolidated a new nickname for the club.
Visa hopes to raise US$18.8 billion in unprecedented IPO
Visa Inc, the world's biggest electronic payment processing firm, unveiled plans on Monday for what could be a record US initial public offering (IPO), saying it hoped to raise US$18.8 billion. If the San Francisco-based company's expectations are met, its planned IPO would easily overshadow the giant US$10 billion IPO of AT&T Wireless in 2000. Visa, which processes payments for credit and debit cards, said it plans to sell at least 406 million shares to public investors as soon as possible. It expects its shares to be priced at between US$37 and US$42 per share. The company unveiled its bid to transform itself from a private entity into a public group through a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Visa's planned IPO comes amid a slowdown in such public listings, due in part to an ailing US economy and a credit crunch sweeping the financial markets which have triggered sharp stock market declines in recent months.
Merchants Respond to Questions About Impact of Interchange Fees
WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Merchants Payments Coalition today delivered to members of the House Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Task Force a detailed report responding to questions about Visa and MasterCard's hidden credit card interchange fees raised by Representative Ric Keller, R-Fla., at a recent hearing. "This report separates facts from fiction on credit card interchange practices," said MPC Chairman Mallory Duncan, senior vice president and general counsel at the National Retail Federation. "The credit card industry has made numerous questionable statements. We have attempted to set the record straight." Duncan testified on behalf of the MPC during a July 19 hearing on credit card interchange held by the Antitrust Task Force, arguing that Visa and MasterCard practices in setting interchange rates constitute a violation of federal antitrust laws that costs merchants and consumers more than $40 billion a year.
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