Kate Fitzgerald

Consumer confidence in the economy stabilized last month, after declining for three consecutive months, despite the growing number of people with pessimistic views of their personal finances, according to Discover Financial Services.

The average chargeoff rate on consumer credit cards fell to a 16-month low in July; delinquency rates also improved as did credit card portfolio health, Fitch Ratings has reported.

Bank customers are divided nearly down the middle when it comes to opting in to debit card account overdraft protection in accordance with new federal rules, according to data from the American Bankers Association.

Beginning Oct. 31, 2012, issuers, merchants and acquirers in Canada that support American Express Co. cards will become liable for fraudulent transactions initiated with magnetic stripe cards when the fraud would have been averted by cards meeting the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications, Amex Canada said.

Banks' efforts to explain new regulations covering opt-in policies for overdraft protection appear to be working, according to Mintel Comperemedia.

Unregulated mobile payments systems could put consumers at risk for fraud, according to Consumers Union.

The largest U.S. card issuers could lose more than $2 billion of annual debit-related revenues from the combination of regulations limiting overdraft fees and pending debit-interchange rules, according to a report from Javelin Strategy and Research.

U.S. credit card borrowers shed $4.5 billion of debt in June, continuing the pattern of reducing overall outstanding receivables that began in the fall of 2008, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit.

Wells Fargo & Co. must pay more than $200 million in restitution to California banking customers for deliberately manipulating debit card transactions in order to trigger overdraft fees, a federal judge ruled on Aug. 10.

Arizona state government officials, responding to a recent uptick of incidents, are stepping up efforts to thwart criminals who steal consumers' credit and debit card information at gasoline pumps.

U.S. credit card borrowers shed $4.5 billion in debt in June, continuing the pattern of reducing overall outstanding receivables that began in the fall of 2008, according to a Federal Reserve G.19 report on consumer credit released Aug. 6.

Consumer confidence declined in July for the third consecutive month as pessimism about the economy rose, according to Discover Financial Services.

Wright Express Corp., which is trying to diversify its fuel card operations, is buying the Australian prepaid and fleet card operations of Retail Decisions Ltd.

A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has quantified something that many payments executives have long suspected: that lower-income people subsidize the costs of rewards programs for wealthier consumers.

Visa Inc. on July 28 reported net income of $716 million for the fiscal third quarter ended June 30, down 1.8% from $729 million during the same period a year earlier. Net operating revenue was $2 billion, up 21.2% from $1.65 billion, driven by growth in data processing and international transaction revenue, the company said.

Small-business owners' confidence in the economy fell again in July as fears about of another recession rose, according to Discover Financial Services.

Credit card issuers have dropped many policies that lawmakers deemed unfair and barred under the CARD Act, but some new practices that could put consumers at risk are increasing, according to a report from the Pew Health Group's Safe Credit Cards Project.

Debit issuers need "radical thinking" to generate more volume and more revenue from their cards, a survey report from First Data Corp. concluded.

The City of Scottsdale, Ariz., is backing away from credit cards as a payment option for utility bills, starting Sept. 1, in an effort to rein in its transaction processing expenses.

The first deadlines for Canadian banks and merchants to shift to the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications will hit in October, and security experts are warning that U.S. payments companies should expect a surge in fraud as criminals target more porous systems.