“May Day!,” Pt. I: Malware Security Alert for POS Devices

Happy May Day! In the U.S., it conjures up images of May Poles and spring love. In Europe, it’s marked with parades and marches, and is still something of a “worker’s holiday,” as it was here in the 19th Century. It was the original “Labor Day,” until the one we have now was created, so that American workers could have a day separate from what was perceived as the somewhat incendiary history of May 1st.

There and Back Again! Plus: Is Your Password As Strong as the Dollar?

As we mentioned before, we’ve been getting some brush-ups — a lot of digital brush-ups – -done to the AVPS website. Much as you can’t drive your car around when it’s in the shop, we haven’t been able to blog on our same schedule while our web presence is made more secure and more visually friendly to mobile devices.

And… We’re Back! In Time for “FMI vs. EMV,” Plus: Travel News!

Hello faithful blog readers and connoisseurs of financial news and credit card insights. As you may have noticed, we had an “outage” on our web page’s blog for a few days — late last week and earlier this week.

Fed Report: Mobile Payments, Commerce on the Upswing. But…

The Federal Reserve has issued the 2015 edition of its Consumers and Mobile Finances report. Among the findings, as reported by “Digital Transactions,” are that “the number of mobile-payments users in the United States is growing steadily, but most mobile-phone owners still find other payment methods more convenient.”

Breaches Old and New: Target Settles, More Blue Cross Leaks; New Security Measures

Data breaches, their discontents and fallout, have filled the news this week. You’ll remember, of course, when the Target customer data breach in 2013 finally catapulted questions about customer security in the digital age onto the front page. Now comes word that Target has, at last, reached a settlement in that case. As tech website Gizmodo reports, “following lengthy discussions with the lawyers of those affected by the hack, the retailer has agreed to pay up a $10 million settlement.”

The October Country: EMV Draws Near; Are You Ready?

The October Country: EMV Draws Near; Are You Ready? While time does continue to zip along, we’re not always busy…

A “Freak” Attack That May Not Be So Rare; MasterCard Touts Mobile

In the ever-evolving world of payments, it would seem to always be the best of times and, well, not the worst of times, certainly, but let us say the most aware of times, in terms of needing to stay alert to the security challenges in a rapidly changing electronic environment.

On the Menu: More Security

Recently, the National Restaurant Association co-hosted a chat via its Twitterfeed, dealing with issues of payment security. This is of particular concern to NRA members, since many of the most headline-grabbing hacks have come at eateries, like PF Chang’s, Dairy Queen, and other food establishments.

Samsung Moves Into Payments; “Hackers Never Sleep”

The news and changes in payments keep moving along at a clip — well, at a clip almost as fast as the digits who are changing the ways those payments are made. On the very day of this post, Samsung has announced the purchase of LoopPay, a start-up in the world of mobile and NFC — near field communications — payments.  As the Wall Street Journal summarizes, “the deal to buy LoopPay Inc. of Burlington, Mass.