http://www.tmspay.com Transaction Management & Solutions | TM&S Sat, 27 Feb 2010 20:55:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Some recent news and government actions affecting online retailers enrolling consumers in membership clubs warrants a follow up to my blog a few months ago about post transaction marketing. In late January, NY Attorney General Cuomo made some strong moves in the battle against post-transaction marketing.  His office reached an agreement ... http://www.tmspay.com/2010/02/27/more-crackdown-on-post-transaction-marketing/ In January, MasterCard made an effort to enforce new regulations and best practice guidelines pertaining to online direct marketing – specifically “negative option” marketing, which they consider to be a “brand damaging” practice.  The FTC Negative Option staff report, featuring five key marketing principles, triggered both Visa and MasterCard to ... http://www.tmspay.com/2010/02/12/card-association-response-to-updated-ftc-regulations/ Recent reports about the security of mobile phone payments has raised red flags on the next hot payment channel.  Encryption on GSM calls has already been hacked and various researchers have released findings and tools that might encourage cyber crime.  Well, maybe not exactly the motive, but a GSM encryption ... http://www.tmspay.com/2010/01/31/can-you-trust-mobile-phones-with-your-money/ The EMV Standard In the UK, the migration to EMV technology has reduced fraud in face-to-face transactions since EMV adoption in 2003.  The EMV standard operates with EMV-compliant cards (which have embedded chips instead of magnetic stripes) and EMV-compliant POS terminals.  The chips require a PIN entry for a secure EMV ... http://www.tmspay.com/2010/01/19/where-are-we-with-payment-security/ This spring, U.S. Representatives Peter Welch (D-VT) and Bill Shuster (R-PA), introduced HR 2382, the Credit Card Interchange Fees Act of 2009.  Welch, the bill's author, states that "credit card fees are killing small businesses."  The act, targeted to help small retailers, would limit the fees charged to merchants.  It ... http://www.tmspay.com/2009/12/29/interchange-fee-legislation-who-will-pay-the-price/ According to MasterCard’s presentation at the Goldman Sachs US Financial Services Conference on Dec 8, retail sales are showing positive signs – relative to payment cards.  They cited November as the third consecutive month of growth since July, 2008.  They attributed the growth to changes in consumer attitudes.  Consumers are ... http://www.tmspay.com/2009/12/17/what-card-payment-usage-is-telling-us/ In the first half of 2009, e-commerce revenue amounted to approximately $64 billion of all retail sales in the U.S., according the U.S. Census Bureau.  While e-commerce sales dropped from the same period in 2008, the percentage of total retail sales increased slightly from 3.3 to 3.5 percent.  What this ... http://www.tmspay.com/2009/11/29/post-transaction-marketing-is-it-worth-the-risk-for-e-commerce-merchants/ As a follow-on to my blog about alternative payments, it looks like one big player is either afraid of the competition - or maybe it is simply making smart business decisions. Announced yesterday was American Express' deal to purchase Revolution Money, launched by AOL Co-founder Steve Case's Revolution LLC in 2007. ... http://www.tmspay.com/2009/11/19/american-express-acquires-revolution-money/ 1-800-Flowers is paving the way, yet again, for retailers to reach consumers. The company has jumped on the Facebook bandwagon and is taking advantage of the viral social networking phenomenon. In late July, they became the first store to sell their products directly through Facebook, via a Facebook application. They ... http://www.tmspay.com/2009/11/09/new-avenues-for-e-commerce/ Answer:  Offer alternative payment options Okay, so what exactly does that mean?  Well, traditionally, merchants only had the option of accepting electronic payments online in the form of bank drafts, and debit and credit cards from the major card brands – Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club and JCB.  That is ... http://www.tmspay.com/2009/10/28/want-to-gain-more-online-customers/