June 2016 – Tom Dailey

Resold/Repurposed computers and hard drives can be a rich source of confidential data for fraudsters

Data security firm Blancco Technology Group recently conducted an experiment whereby they purchased 200 used data drives, then conducted a forensic analysis to determine whether they contained confidential/personally identifiable information. The result? 67% contained personal information and 11% contained sensitive business data including emails, spreadsheets, social security numbers, strategic and planning information, and inventories. 36% showed [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 29th, 2016|data breach, data security|Comments Off

Kroger is the latest merchant to sue over EMV signature authentication, joining Wal-Mart and Home Depot

In May, I published an article "Are Americans too dumb for Credit Card PINs?" pointing out the absurdity of U.S. card network rules requiring a merchant to accept a cardholder signature as authentication on an EMV-chip enabled card transaction, rather than requiring the customer to enter a PIN like 80+ other countries. By forcing merchants to [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 28th, 2016|authentication, EMV, Home Depot, MasterCard, Visa, Walmart|Comments Off

MasterCard accelerating investment in India payments market

MasterCard will invest up to $800 million in the India payments market by 2020, on top of $400 already invested since 2014. The opportunity is massive: less than 5% of payments in India are digital. Investments will include improved MasterCard acceptance by smaller, independent businesses which make up 45% of India's GDP; and mobile technology, [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 28th, 2016|India, MasterCard|Comments Off

Apple Pay expanding into web-based ecommerce payments

In a move that could pose serious competitive challenges to PayPal and other ecommerce payment players, Apple is expanding Apple Pay to support web-based ecommerce payments starting this fall. The product will initially work only through Apple's Safari browser. 21 major retailers including Office Depot, Target, Home Shopping Network and Overstock.com have already indicated they [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 22nd, 2016|Apple, ecommerce, PayPal, Uncategorized|Comments Off

Microsoft launches Wallet 2.0. (Yawn.)

Microsoft's launch of its Wallet 2.0 is a bit like someone who shows up at the party after midnight. Apple Pay has been around since 2014 and Android Pay is nearly a year old. Microsoft is touting the fact that the new version supports NFC "tap to pay" (as if that is a major [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 22nd, 2016|Apple, digital wallets, Microsoft|Comments Off

Visa predicts 35% increase in international travel by 2025

Visa published a report predicting robust growth in international travel and associated spend over the next decade. Highlights: 282 million households will plan at least one international trip per year by 2025, up 35% from current levels. Average spend will exceed $5,000 per trip Largest growth will come from markets with an expanding "traveling class" such as [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 10th, 2016|Visa|Comments Off

China opening its doors to foreign payment networks

After more than ten years of lobbying by MasterCard, Visa and others, China issued new regulations on June 7 which will allow foreign payment networks access to China's $8+ trillion payments market, previously dominated by a near-monopoly of China Union Pay, which is government-run. Card issuers will still be required to operate locally, and China's [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 8th, 2016|China, China Union Pay, MasterCard, Visa|Comments Off

As Costco shuts down American Express acceptance, AmEx coincidentally changes policy regarding annual fee refunds for account closures

With the June 19 deadline looming for Costco to stop accepting American Express cards, it's interesting that American Express announced a change to its policy regarding annual fee refunds. Previously, American Express provided a pro-rated refund of its annual fee upon account closure. The recently announced new policy is: "Closing your Account Effective September 1, [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 7th, 2016|American Express, Costco|Comments Off

PayPal exits Turkey, Stripe immediately begins tweeting in Turkish

PayPal is suspending its operations in Turkey after it was refused regulatory approval. Immediately after PayPal's announcement, competitor Stripe began an effort to sign up merchants who were orphaned by PayPal's decision. Apparently Stripe is pushing its "Atlas" program, which promises to establish a U.S. business entity for Turkish merchants for $500. But it isn't that [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 7th, 2016|PayPal, Stripe|Comments Off

MasterCard reports big decrease in fraud due to EMV adoption, but are merchants actually paying more fraud costs than before?

MasterCard reported an impressive 27% year-over-year reduction in counterfeit card fraud at EMV chip-enabled merchants. That doesn't mean merchants are seeing the benefits of those reductions. In May, I blogged about the sharp rise in chargebacks that merchants are experiencing due to the liability shift that occurred last October, whereby merchants can be charged back without [...]

By Tom Dailey|2017-11-18T15:32:39-05:00June 1st, 2016|EMV, Liability Shift, MasterCard|Comments Off

Monthly Archives: June 2016