The Strawhecker Group released the newest edition of the Directory of U.S. Merchant Acquirers to a receptive audience. The comprehensive guide lists the top 300 merchant acquirers in the United States in a searchable format. Selected companies are ranked by processing volumes and merchant portfolios, the company stated. Jared Drieling, senior director of business intelligence at TSG, said, "In terms of comprehensiveness and depth, there is not another source for this type of data in our space. We have a lot of clients that eagerly await these results."
U.S. companies are getting hammered by payments fraud. And scams involving automated clearing house (ACH) payments are increasing faster than most other fraud. Fraud involving checks, wire transfers and credit and debit cards, although still being perpetrated against companies, is declining. And while all fraud attempts don't result in financial losses, 43 percent of U.S. businesses did take financial hits due to payments fraud in 2018. These are key findings of the 2019 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, which elicited responses from more than 600 corporate finance professionals about 2018 payments fraud experiences.
The Hawaii Senate confirmed John Beebe's appointment to a three-year term on Hawaii's Council on Developmental Disabilities. The Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health recognized Beebe's public service, business expertise and personal commitment to helping families with developmentally challenged children. In a letter of recommendation, supporters cited Beebe's current role as president and CEO at Celestial Payments and prior service as commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, and emphasized life experiences that "have enabled him to create real world solutions that bridge the public and private sectors and given him diplomatic and relationship building skills."
A new report from Transaction Network Services Inc. reveals a notable number of consumers own Internet of Things-connected devices; many have or are interested in using those devices for payments. But security concerns run deep: nearly three of four consumers in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia admitted security concerns impede adoption. Bill Versen, chief product officer at TNS, said companies "need to implement strong security protocols and communicate these measures to consumers to mitigate their concerns."
JCPenney's recently decided to stop supporting Apple Pay and other forms of near field communications (NFC) payments. In a statement to TechCrunch, the company said, "A third-party credit card brand made the requirement for all merchants to actively support EMV contactless functionality effective April 13, retiring the legacy MSD [magnetic stripe data] contactless technology in place. Given the resources and lead time associated with meeting the new mandate, JCPenney chose to suspend all contactless payment options until a later date."
In advance of the Electronic Transactions Association's Transact 19, support poured in for the organization's interim CEO, Amy Zirkle. She took over the reins of the payments industry trade association in February 2019, following the departure of Jason Oxman, who had served as ETA CEO for seven years. Kevin Jones, president of the ETA's board of directors and CEO at Celero Commerce, called Zirkle "an acknowledged thought leader with robust experience in business and government relations issues." 
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