Trends Of The Week

Over the past week, PYMNTS.com’s coverage in this newsletter has spanned a broad variety of issues. In this column, we take a look at five common elements that link many of those stories, in essence making them the “trends of the week.”

eCommerce

Walmart is embracing three key eCommerce shuns as it tries to push its strongest advantage against the top dog. Clickhere to find out why.

Shoppers are avoiding physical stores at a far greater rate than had been known. Find out what’s distracting them and whyhere.

However natural a fit for eCommerce countries such as Thailand may seem, there is one large and difficult-to-surmount problem. Clickhere to find out what this challenge is, and where it’s creating some big headaches.

Groupon isn’t having fun with eCommerce. Clickhere to find out why.

Home design e-tailer Feb.com reportedly is in talks to be acquired. Or is it? Clickhere to find out what’s causing the speculation.

Mobile

Sosh is refining its service to squarely focus on restaurant attention. Clickhere to find out why.

U.S. prepaid card player Blackhawk Network is working with this British bank to offer something via a mobile app. Clickhere to find out what it’s doing and with whom, and how it works.

The Paym mobile-payment service is catching on with British banking customers. More than a million users have signed on to use the service. Clickhere to find out what’s making the service so appealing.

NFC/contactless

American Express has partnered with Croatia’s second-largest bank to provide an NFC payment service supported by host card emulation (HCE) technology. Clickhere to find out the goals of the initiative.

What would a week be without an Apple/NFC smartphone rumor? This week was no exception. Clickhere to find out what the latest gossip is, and which network Apple reportedly is working in cahoots with on its purported NFC plans. You can even clickhere to learn when Apple’s latest phone is expected to roll out, and what it might support.

UK consumers seem to be taking a liking to contactless payments. Clickhere for the latest trend data and to learn what the totals could mean.

Security

Issuers can take steps to address consumers’ concerns about transaction security. Clickhere to learn more about what TSYS says in a white paper are some of the key strategies.

A Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against a group of ISOs reads like a how-to guide for ripping off the card brands. Clickhere to learn what details the fraud techniques the ISOs are accused of using to sidestep card network and issuer antifraud security procedures.

In the not to distant future, consumers will be able to run the dishwasher, turn on the light and lock the doors remotely with the tap of a button from a smartphone. The bad news: in the not too distant future, cybercrimals will have all the same abilities. Clickhere to learn why.

Card losses in Europe are increasing sharply, according to a new report by Euromonitor International, which plotted payment fraud across the continent. Clickhere to find out why.

With less than 500 days until EMV adoption will be required, and it is looking increasingly likely that many credit unions won’t be issuing EMV cards when the liability shifts to merchants unable to read the chips on the smart cards, thus leaving many credit unions vulnerable. Clickhere to learn why the holdup.

P.F. Chang’s in early June reported that a data breach affected 33 locations nationwide. This week we learned from the company’s CEO more about the incident. Clickhere to learn what he had to say.

We learned this week that Russian thieves participated in what is possibly the largest high-tech swindle of personal information to date. What did they get, and what do they intend to do with the information? Clickhere to find out.

Alas, poor Target Corp., which has become the poster child in the latest series of major data breaches. And it’s still paying for its mistakes. Clickhere to find out how much it spent last quarter in cleanup costs.

A group of thieves started their recent attack of holes in debit card processing by stealing PayPal MasterCard prepaid debit cards from major retailers. Clickhere to find out from which ones, and what stores were affected.

One biometrics vendor that encouraged shoppers to “show us your wallet” for a promotion was stunned at how much sensitive payment data people inadvertently shared. Find out what they were will to reveal by clickinghere.

One network is looking to pump up the fraud protection at gas stations. Clickhere to find out which one, and how the protections will help secure transactions.

Social

Customers of this Japanese bank now have a new social media option when it comes to transferring money to another person. Find out what social media outlet it is, and in which country this P2P product is available, by clickinghere.

Facebook might have tipped its hand on its eCommerce plans, thanks to their own mobile app developers. Clickhere to find out what happened.

LivingSocial is trying to avoid doing something with data improperly. Clickhere to find out what specific mobile information it’s interested in.

Facebook is preparing for a big eCommerce push and it’s got the support now of an internal security team. Find out what Facebook’s acquisition of a security firm could play into its future plans by clickinghere.