Jeffrey Green

The growing use of smartphones by consumers to make purchases appears to be prompting small-business owners to follow suit.

The Atlanta processor reported a net loss of $171.2 million in the quarter, 25% smaller than its loss in the same quarter last year.

First Data Corp. on Aug. 10 reported a net loss attributable to the company of $171.2 million for the second quarter ended June 30, down from the $195.9 million loss the transaction processor reported during the same period last year. Revenues totaled $2.61 billion, up 18.1% from $2.21 billion, driven by the formation of the Banc of America Merchant Services LLC alliance.

Reductions in consumer card use at casinos is adversely affecting Global Cash Access Holdings Inc.'s financial performance.

Global private equity firms Bain Capital and Advent International on Aug. 6 signed an agreement with The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC to acquire its subsidiary business, RBS WorldPay, for an enterprise value of up to £2.025 billion (US$3.2 billion or 2.44 billion euros), including a £200 million contingent consideration.

Point-of-sale terminal maker Hypercom Corp. late on Aug. 4 reported revenues of $103.9 million for the second quarter ended June 30, down 1.6% from $105.6 million during the same period last year. However, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company reported a $1.26 million net loss, in part because of component shortages that affected revenue; it reported net income of $1.26 million during the same period last year.

Cardtronics Inc. has struck a multiyear deal to manage automated teller machines at about 800 Kroger Inc. grocery stores.

Visa Inc. has formally launched its Rightcliq online shopping service. Charlie Wilson, Visa's head of global e-commerce, said the San Francisco payments company is targeting two consumer segments: the young, technology-savvy early adopters and shopping enthusiasts, or "fashionistas," who both tend to be open to new ways to pay and shop. Visa initially announced the service in July; the formal launch was Monday.

Though many banks have expanded their credit card marketing efforts this year, consumer response rates have been low and are likely to stay low for the foreseeable future, according to Fair Isaac Corp.

A Swedish taxi company is installing in its cabs 1,600 payment card terminals from Hypercom Corp.

NCR Corp. reported that its second-quarter net income rose 29.9% year over year, to $31 million. Revenue rose 5.4%, to $1.18 billion.

Datacard Group, a Minnetonka, Minn., provider of identification and card personalization services, has acquired longtime partner Datacard South Pacific Pty. Ltd.

Efforts to expand abroad appear to be paying off for Total System Services Inc., as are indications the economy is improving.

NCR Corp. on Thursday reported net income of $31 million for the second quarter ended June 30, up 29.2% from $24 million during the same period last year. Revenues totaled $1.18 billion, up 5.4% from $1.12 billion.

Total System Services Inc. has reached a deal to support Tesco Personal Finance PLC's portfolio of 2.4 million credit cards in the U.K.

Total System Services Inc. this afternoon reported net income of $52.5 million for the second quarter ended June 30, down 2.8% from $54 million during the same period last year. The Columbus, Ga.-based transaction processor’s revenues were up 5.3%, to $433.8 million from $412 million.

U.S. consumers' average credit card debt in June inched up after falling to its lowest level of the year in May, while the average credit score dropped for the first time in 2010, according to data from Credit Karma.

The prepaid card market has come a long way over the past two decades, and T. Jack Williams has been there since virtually the beginning. As director of membership services at Blockbuster Entertainment, Williams played a key role in creating the world’s first merchant gift card program in the spring of 1994. He later went on to help launch the Kmart Cash Card in 1997 while at Stored Value Systems, at the time a division of National City Bank (see bio). This was the first merchant gift card that also included AT&T long-distance minutes.

Visa Inc. is increasing its stake in the U.K. mobile banking and payments software vendor Monitise PLC.

Through an arrangement announced Monday by the Euro Alliance of Payment Schemes, people with girocard debit cards issued in Germany can now use them at the 63,000 automated teller machines connected to the U.K.'s Link electronic funds transfer network.