For as long as we can remember, paying with a credit card required you to sign your name on the dotted line. While this system has changed over the years — mandating your John Hancock only for purchases over a certain amount — MasterCard is perhaps planning the biggest change of them all: The payment company will eliminate signature payments altogether. [More]
mastercard
MasterCard Testing Chip-And-Fingerprint Payment Verification System
By 4.20.17
While many consumers are likely just getting used to their more secure, but far from perfect, chip-and-signature payment system and others are beginning to use a chip-and-PIN system, MasterCard is testing yet another secure transaction option: chip-and-fingerprint. [More]
Verifone, Largest Maker Of Card Payment Terminals, Targeted By Hack
By 3.7.17
Verifone, the company behind many of the payment systems you see at retailers across the country, is reportedly the latest hack attack victim. [More]
Feds Order MasterCard, RushCard Owner To Pay $13M Over Oct. 2015 Outages
By 2.1.17
Nearly 15 months after tens of thousands of users of the prepaid RushCard were cut off from their funds because of an apparent technical glitch, the company behind the card, UniRush and its payment processor MasterCard have been ordered to pay $13 million in refunds and penalties. [More]
There Could Soon Be Fewer Bodega And Bar ATMs After MasterCard, Visa Policy Shift
By 9.9.16
You know what it looks like: it’s buried way in the back of the corner store or your local watering hole, covered in a thin layer of grime from all those who have punched its keypad before. It’s the ubiquitous non-bank ATM, and it could be vanishing from some familiar spots in the near future with new policies at MasterCard and Visa that shift the blame for fraudulent transactions. [More]
PayPal Discontinuing Student Accounts
By 9.8.16
For the past seven years, PayPal has offered parents the option of securely sending their college-age kids money for things like rent, activity fees, or other needs through its Student Account program and accompanying Student Debit MasterCard. But that simple money transfer option is ending at the end of this month. [More]
PayPal And Mastercard Become In-Store Payment Pals
By 9.6.16
PayPal wants customers to pay using their accounts as mobile wallets, and credit card networks want customers to sign up for the networks’ own mobile payment services. Sounds like a perfect pairing, right? That’s what Visa thought a few months ago, and Mastercard has concluded now. [More]
SCOTUS Will Hear Visa, MasterCard Appeal In ATM Fee Price-Fixing Case
By 6.28.16
Ten months after an appellate court ruled that a lawsuit accusing Visa, MasterCard, and a slew of major banks of conspiring to fix ATM fees could go forward, the United States Supreme Court said it will review an appeal from those companies seeking to throw the case out completely. [More]
Credit Card Forgers Going On One Last Crime Spree While Magnetic Stripe Readers Are Still Prevalent
By 6.17.16
America has long served as a haven for credit card crooks because it’s only recently that we’ve switched to credit and debit cards that use smart chips (EMV). However, criminals are taking advantage of retailers’ delay in installing card readers that use the technology, and holding sort of a fire sale on stolen credit card numbers. [More]
Home Depot Accuses Visa, MasterCard Of Colluding On “Defective” Credit Cards
By 6.15.16
While banks and credit card issuers are slowly rolling out new debit and credit cards containing microchips intended to make them less susceptible to fraud, Home Depot says in a recently filed lawsuit that the two largest card networks have colluded with the banks to produce cards that are not as secure as they should be. [More]
Can A Cashier Make Me Read My 3-Digit Credit Card Code In Front Of Other Shoppers?
By 4.15.16
Your credit card has a 16-digit number on the front, plus an expiration date, and another three-digit code on the back. We all know in a vague way that the code on the back (also known as the “CVC” or “CVV”) has something to do with making transactions safer or reducing fraud, but other than that we don’t give it much thought — and while we might expect to have to share that number when shopping online, we certainly don’t expect to be asked to read it out loud when making an in-person purchase at a crowded coffee shop. [More]
Supermarket Chain Sues Credit Card Companies Over Costly Chip Card Delay
By 3.15.16
Nearly five months ago, new credit card rules went into effect making retailers liable for fraudulent purchases if they haven’t upgraded their checkout technology to accept more secure, but far from perfect, chip-enabled cards. While some retailers have installed the card readers, many haven’t turned them on. But according to a new class-action seeking lawsuit, it’s not their fault. [More]
MasterCard Starts “Selfie” Verification, Working On Heartbeat Approvals
By 2.23.16
Last October, MasterCard revealed that it was testing new ID-verification solutions that used, among other things, facial recognition, to quickly and securely identify cardholders when shopping on their mobile devices. Now the company says the so-called “selfie pay” system is ready for the masses, and that it is working on a way to authenticate users via their heartbeats. [More]
Report: Holiday Shoppers Saved So Much On Gas, They Spent 8% More This Year
By 12.28.15
If you felt like you reached into your wallet a few more times this holiday season than last year, or that you were forking over bigger chunks of change, you’re not alone: a new report says retail sales were up 7.9% over 2014’s numbers. [More]
MasterCard Launches Program To Make Anything – Clothes, Rings – A Payment Device
By 10.27.15
MasterCard’s quest to make paying for things easier already includes a few out-there systems: verification via selfie for online orders, anyone? And it doesn’t appear that the credit card company is holding back in its latest endeavor, partnering with a fashion designer and other companies to create an array of consumer products-turned-mobile payment systems. Because, you know, paying with pieces of plastic and phones was so last year. [More]
MasterCard Rolling Out Payment Verification Technology That Uses Facial Recognition, Fingerprint Scans
By 10.6.15
With consumers’ shopping habits continually evolving – making more purchases online through smartphones and tablets – more retailers have revamped the way in which they allow such transactions to be made (“Buy” buttons, anyone?). So it should come as no surprise then that the businesses handling such transactions – your credit card company and bank – would also seek to evolve their methods to make payment verification simple and secure. That’s apparently the idea behind MasterCard Identity Check. [More]
The Chip-And-PIN Credit Card Era Starts Today. What You Need To Know
By 10.1.15
Over the past few months, you may have noticed more retailers adorning their checkout stands with shiny new credit card readers. While those systems still have an area along the side where you swipe your card’s magnetic strip, they also have a smaller slot (typically) on the front where you simply jam gently insert your card. This is all part of the country’s shift toward more secure, but far from perfect, chip-enabled cards that kicks into high-gear today. [More]
I’ve Been Forced To Sign A Bogus Credit Card Bill While Traveling Abroad. What Can I Do?
By 9.21.15
International travel is great! There are millions of great places to see, people to meet, and foods to try waiting out there in the world. Unfortunately, there are also crooks and fraudsters everywhere. Most of us know how to handle a sticky situation when we’re on our home turf, but what do you do when someone in a place where you don’t speak the language is taking advantage of your wallet in a way you didn’t agree to? [More]
