Kate Fitzgerald

Target Corp.'s decision to drop its cobranded Visa card is the strongest sign yet that merchants are re-evaluating the benefits of offering general-purpose credit cards.

Macy's Inc.'s decision to shift its cobranded credit cards to American Express Co. from Visa Inc. underscores the increasing competition among card networks and Amex's growth ambitions.

Citigroup Inc.’s ThankYou Network rewards program last week announced an Earth Day-themed promotion enabling its members to win free music downloads from Sony Music Entertainment.

Most consumers want issuers to contact them through multiple communication channels if the institutions suspect fraudulent activity on their debit or credit cards. But their preferred communication channel varies significantly by age group, suggest the results of a recent survey.

Macy's Inc. today announced that American Express Co. will replace Visa Inc. this fall as the card network supporting its Bloomingdale's and Macy's cobranded credit cards.

Visa Inc. has promoted Elizabeth Buse to group executive, international from global head of product. Jim McCarthy, previously senior sales executive for North America, succeeds Buse. Rupert Keeley, previously group president for several international regions, is leaving the company.

One of mobile payments’ lures for merchants may be the opportunity to deliver coupons, rewards and other customized marketing offers directly to consumers through mobile handsets at the point of sale. Wireless phones enabled with two-way Near Field Communication technology could ignite such marketing opportunities, experts believe.

Visa is trying to up the stakes in mobile text-message alerts by emphasizing the superior speed of its transaction-notification service compared with other such services.

The bill to overhaul the nation’s health care system the House of Representatives approved on March 21 is unlikely to derail growth of tax-deferred health savings accounts and associated debit cards, at least not immediately, experts say.

Alternative payment companies are trying to gain scale by joining forces with banks, electronic funds transfer networks and walk-in payment centers.

Issuers' aggressive efforts to close credit cardholders' accounts last year shrank portfolios and will probably cut into profits this year, according to an analyst.

The Denver mobile loyalty and gift card technology vendor took the wraps off a system last week that consumers can use to make purchases with their phones.

First Data Corp. hopes to challenge terminal makers with an encryption service that it contends goes further than rival offerings.

Mastercard Worldwide’s MasterCard Advisors consulting arm has named Kevin Stanton president. Stanton previously was president of MasterCard’s Canada region.

No official movement is afoot to switch to EMV in the U.S., which is becoming increasingly Balkanized as the only major global region not moving to the more-secure chip-and-PIN technology. But a Visa Inc. executive is among experts suggesting that, though issuers, acquirers and merchants may be resisting the shift for a variety of reasons, EMV technology itself is not the biggest obstacle preventing the U.S. from adopting the standard.

Time may be running out for contactless “tap and go” payment to prove itself as a viable concept as it languishes some five years after the technology’s U.S. launch.

As alternative payment schemes continue to proliferate, some contenders this year are aiming to rise above the fray by combining fresh shortcuts to achieve the desired scale with uncommon payment technologies not easily copied by rivals.

Visa Inc.'s plan to add mobile phone payments capabilities to handsets that are available now could provide a shot in the arm for contactless payment.

The severing of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Starbucks Inc.'s cobranded Duetto credit card relationship is another sign of the industry's refocusing on core products.

MasterCard Inc.'s credit card transactions are not being cannibalized by the growth in debit card use, according to Chris McWilton, its president of U.S. markets.