Fintech

At a pop-up market in New York's Union Square Park this week, locals and tourists squeeze past each other as they make their way through rows of candy cane-striped tents, perusing merchants' products as hurried commuters coming and going from a nearby subway entrance dart through the crowd.

Citigroup’s 2G card, developed with technology from Dynamics, promised to revolutionize the way consumers paid with plastic. But the product remains in pilot testing mode more than two years after the partnership was announced and more than a year after Citi reportedly aimed to mass-market the card.

MasterCard Inc., already facing at least 12 U.K. lawsuits after European Union regulators outlawed cross-border card fees, was sued by Deutsche Bahn AG and J Sainsbury Plc.

President Barack Obama signed two bills on Dec. 20 that will protect information banks provide to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and eliminate a requirement on ATM fee notices.

SAN ANTONIO – The $350-million Air Force FCU has completed a merger with Peoples Choice of San Antonio FCU.

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Firefighters Community CU here is absorbing via merger tiny Lane Metropolitan CME Church Credit Union.

After enjoying strong growth in its credit card business in 2012, Discover Financial Services is investing some of those returns in a more diverse range of products.

As many individuals open their wallets and donate to a variety of charitable causes during the holidays, con artists and fraudsters are lurking online, using websites equipped with payments technologies, text messaging schemes and other methods to scam well-meaning do-gooders out of funds intended for worthy causes. It’s an ever-growing problem being addressed by e-commerce industry participants, law enforcement and other groups.

It is not likely manufacturers and owners of ATMs will experience a more interesting – or challenging – year than 2012 any time soon.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to acquire online coupon site Bloomspot Inc. for $35 million to bolster its credit card division, according to a memo.