Kate Fitzgerald

Discover Financial Services is still struggling to reach "the last mile" of full U.S. merchant acceptance as many retail locations fall short in promoting the brand at the point of sale, the company said.

Annual interest rates on national merchants' private-label credit cards are on the rise, according to a study published by Rep. Anthony Weiner, D.-N.Y.

U.S. consumers' average credit card debt fell by 7% through the first 10 months of the year, while their average credit scores in recent months stabilized, according to data from Credit Karma Inc.

Citigroup Inc. has introduced a one-time-use debit card to reduce corporations' cost of providing flu shots or other vaccinations to employees.

Starbucks Corp. customers loaded more than $1.5 billion on to the company's loyalty cards in its fiscal year, up 20% from last year. Nearly one in five of its customers uses a loyalty card to pay for transactions, Starbucks said.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. said it will phase out debit rewards programs as it braces for changes stemming from pending Federal Reserve rules.

Advanta Corp. expects to repay its investors 64.4% to 100% of the value of their retail notes as part of its proposed liquidation plan, the bankrupt small-business card issuer said.

First National Bank of Omaha, which for many years has kept a relatively low profile as one of the nation's largest privately held credit card issuers, this year is churning with activity from an unprecedented growth streak.

American Express Co. is offering more perks to travelers with its new Blue Sky Preferred credit card.

Visa Inc. on Oct. 27 reported net income of $774 million for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, up 50.6% from $514 million during the same period a year earlier. Net operating revenue rose 12.8%, to $2.12 billion from $1.88 billion, the company said. Currency fluctuations boosted revenues during the quarter by 1%.

American Express Co. this week signaled its plans to tap into new mobile and prepaid payment technologies that will include "debit-like" products, but it may have far to go before it catches up with its competitors in mobile payments.

Citing growth from new clients and improving chargeoff trends, Alliance Data Systems Corp. announced dramatic increases in third-quarter revenue and profitability for its private-label credit card unit.

The Merchants Payments Coalition is crying foul about Bank of America Corp.’s announcement this week that it took a $10.4 billion third-quarter goodwill charge to counter impending reductions in debit-interchange income.

First National Bank of Omaha will be the first major financial institution to extend Cardlytics Inc.'s online merchant-funded rewards system to credit card customers.

Banks may benefit from Federal Trade Commission rules on debt-relief firms scheduled to take effect this month, but small companies may have trouble adapting.

Crooks are devising simpler, less expensive — and less obvious — methods of stealing card data from merchants.

TCF Financial Corp. may not be alone in its legal fight against prospective restrictions on debit interchange rates.

Pending debit interchange rate rule changes are causing uncertainty about strategies for debit card rewards programs.

Point-of-sale transactions will likely become less costly for merchants, faster and more secure as a result of the pending debit interchange regulation, and future credit card interchange regulation is almost a certainty, according to Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

MasterCard expects to rely heavily on technology to seek an edge in the expanding global commercial payments market, it signaled with a pair of recent announcements.