Fintech

MANCHESTER, N.H. – St. Mary’s Bank, the nation’s oldest credit union, said this morning it signed a multi-year contract with TSYS to process its consumer credit card portfolio.

With more plastic in circulation than any other payment network — 2.9 billion cards, or 45 percent of the world’s total last year — UnionPay is now accepted in 135 countries. Its rise is causing friction as the firm grabs market share from Visa Inc. as well as MasterCard Inc., which UnionPay surpassed in customer spending in the first half of the year.

The Senate passed two small but critical industry measures late Tuesday involving ATM fee disclosures and information sharing with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, paving the way for the bills to be signed into law by the president.

An EMV Migration Forum committee studying the complex details surrounding the conversion of PIN debit networks to handle EMV chip-card payments in the U.S. has "the highest level of urgency" of any of the forum's study groups.

BOSTON – New Bedford CU has applied to state regulators to expand its field of membership to cover almost 1.5 million resident in the state’s Barnstable, Bristol and Plymouth counties, and the towns of Little Compton and Tiverton in nearby Rhode Island.

CHERRYVILLE, N.C. – Carolina FCU is the fifth credit union to join the North Carolina Consumers Council, a nonprofit organization promoting consumer education, awareness and protection that will expand membership eligibility for the credit union.

MADISON, Wis. – The Filene Research Institute is launching a pilot program with 50 credit unions to offer a social business program aimed at employees, instead of members.

Home Depot Inc. and other retailers lost their bid to appeal a judge’s preliminary approval of Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc.’s proposed $7.25 billion settlement of a merchant fee price-fixing case.

HotelTonight is the newest company in a growing trend of payment players to provide an eGifting service for its users, especially through mobile devices.

MasterCard is confident that the proposed $7.25 billion settlement of allegations that it and Visa engaged in merchant fee price fixing will receive final approval, according to Nomura analysts who recent met with key executives of the card network.