Kate Fitzgerald

As social media becomes a more important part of its marketing strategy, JPMorgan Chase lining up partnerships in the hopes of getting its upscale credit card users communicating more online.

Citigroup is selling another of its Diners Club card-issuing businesses, this time unloading its operation in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to Affiniture Cards, a UK-based private investor group.

When people can easily book appointments with small merchants, they don't always show up — and this practice has sparked demand for a system that also accepts deposits, so that merchants can be compensated for no-shows. That same technology can make it easier for companies to accept payments through Facebook pages.

Credit card portfolio sales this year have snapped back to a pace last seen before the recession took hold. Their prices are also rising.

SCVNGR, the mobile-payments provider behind LevelUp, will use its latest venture-capital infusion to sign up national restaurant chains as it ramps up efforts to expand nationwide.

U.S. payment-card industry rivals have decided to come together, at least for a few days, to better navigate the gargantuan task of migrating to the modern EMV chip-card standard by 2015.

Many small-business owners don't understand social media, and American Express Co. is making increasing efforts to instruct them in the best uses of such sites. A focus of Amex’s efforts is its forum on LinkedIn, where bird-supply vendor Mitch Rezman participates.

Many large merchants expressed outrage at the apparent laxity of the Federal Reserve Board's finalized rule that will allow non-exempt debit card issuers to collect a 1-cent fraud-prevention adjustment on debit card transactions.

Fiserv is adding a host of mobile tools to its UChoose Rewards bankcard loyalty program, starting with a mobile app that lets customers redeem their rewards points on the spot in stores.

The shift to EMV chip-card technology over the next few years could trigger other organizational problems for U.S. banks and merchants.

Visa Inc.'s debit card payment volume declined again during the quarter ended June 30 as a result of a new debit network routing rule, but the worst effects of that trend are over, according to Visa CEO Joe Saunders.

The heat is on for prepaid debit card marketers to match one another on certain key services and features as competition between providers escalates.

JPMorgan Chase's Disney debit rewards card was one of many that banks eliminated after regulation led to a slash in debit interchange revenue. Now the card is making a comeback — with a few changes.

Wal-Mart and Target have vocally opposed the card networks' proposed multi-billion dollar interchange fee settlement, but even these giants may not have the influence to spike the agreement.

Mobile wallet rivals will need to put their differences aside and work together to get the technology off the ground, a recent paper says.

Kmart's new reloadable prepaid debit card will do double duty for both the mega-retailer and Green Dot Corp., which provides the card.

Most merchants dread the idea of surcharging consumers at the point of sale, even if Visa and MasterCard are giving them explicit permission in a proposed legal settlement. But the option could prove valuable to merchants as they negotiate new contracts.

Neiman Marcus Inc.'s exclusive credit card acceptance policies are no more.

Merchants and card issuers weighing the cost of investing in Near Field Communication technology have a lot riding on the success or failure of the Isis mobile-payments test set to launch soon.

Rewards have become as vital as ever in recruiting and keeping cardholders. But that could become problematic if issuers are forced to cut rewards programs to offset costs.