Andrea McKenna Brankin

A national social network of babysitters and parents called SitterPals.com has signed up to use Square Inc.'s service to accept credit card payments for their services.

Even though consumers increasingly trust nonbanks such as Google and Facebook with their personal information, they trust credit card providers more.

To help distribute its Serve digital payment and wallet service, American Express Co. on Aug. 1 announced a deal in which Verizon Wireless will integrate the platform into many of its mobile phones and tablets.

Visa Inc. is expanding efforts to promote its prepaid card products through sponsorship of the Essence Music Festival that took place in New Orleans over the July 4 weekend.

Credit card companies are using social networks to create ads that are more interactive and that deliver valuable consumer data.

Financial companies have long used celebrities and fun characters in their ads, and some have found that going beyond the television spot, integrating the celebrity into the product design, is an even more successful strategy.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s new process for spending rewards points directly on Amazon.com replaces an old process that the issuer determined was not all that rewarding.

When Discover Financial Services last year launched its "Peggy" television commercials, it did not expect the character to take on a life of its own.

MasterCard Inc. has begun distributing wristbands with contactless payment chips at festivals and other events. The wristbands, besides functioning as payment devices, also manage entrance to the events.

More issuers are offering cash incentives to prospective customers, according to new data from direct mail tracking firm Mintel Comperemedia.

Barclays PLC has retooled a television ad for contactless payments to feature use of a mobile phone to make payments in a move that could help to raise awareness of the technology.

Visa Inc. will sponsor the Visa Federation Internationale de Volleyball Beach Volleyball International tournament, which will take place Aug. 9 to 14 at the Horse Guards Parade in London.

Dazbog Coffee of Denver plans to use Mocapay's mobile marketing consumer engagement platform to launch promotions and gift cards at 21 locations in Colorado and Wyoming.

For the fourth time this year, Discover Financial Services is using Facebook Inc.'s social media website for a contest. This time, the Riverwoods, Ill., card company is promoting a contest that asks fans of Discover's Facebook page to design a patriotic-themed Discover card.

The amount of online payment fraud in the airline booking industry is dropping, a study showed.

Hoping to capture a greater share of the burgeoning and highly competitive market of young Hispanic consumers, Western Union Co. is partnering with leading Hispanic-content broadcaster Telemundo Communications Group LLC.

Consumers use debit cards more often than other payment options at the point of sale, but their use of cash is not far behind.

ChargeSmart, an online consumer bill-pay firm, and Plastic Jungle, an online card exchange, are working together to turn unspent gift cards into a new currency for online bill payment.

Major credit card issuers have boosted — in some cases, nearly doubling — their advertising spending, bringing it to pre-recession levels.

American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their advertising expenditures earlier this year, a sign overall ad spending has begun to rise.