Fintech

While many consumers may not know what near-field communication is, the services it enables are becoming quite popular, putting an onus on mobile payments projects in regions as varied as North America, Germany and Turkey to move beyond tech and revenue disputes to deliver a workable model for point of sale transactions executed by smartphones.

PayPal revolutionized how consumers pay for goods online. It's not about to be usurped by the mobile payments movement.

Serverside Group Ltd. said July 7 its patent for card customization, which it claims is being infringed upon by dozens of U.S. credit unions and banks, was maintained in an oral hearing by the European Patent Office.

In an analysis of email-based fraud released in late June, network giant Cisco quantified what newspaper headlines over the past year have made clear: cyberfraud has shifted from mass, generalized attacks to very specific spearphishing hits that harness stolen user information to dupe unwitting consumers (such as bank customers and credit and debit cardholders) into divulging account information.

FAIRLAWN, Ohio – Towpath Community CU said it has agreed to merge with Towpath CU in nearby Akron to create a $119 million credit union serving 21,000 members.

MOON TOWNSHIP, Penn. – Clearview FCU said yesterday it completed the merger of A-K Valley FCU, a $60 million credit union in nearby Lower Burrell.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Yakima Valley CU and Catholic CU said yesterday regulators have approved the combination of the two credit unions to create a regional credit union with more than $470 million in assets and 50,000 members.

In an eerie parallel with U.S. policies, a consortium of top French banks have agreed to cut debit card interchange rates inside the nation’s borders by as much as 36% in response to a price-fixing investigation by a government agency.

The Durbin amendment has sent another debit rewards program to the graveyard as USAA Federal Savings Bank will officially axe its offering on Sept. 1.

After months of fretting, ISOs, agents and processors are viewing the upcoming cap on debit card interchange fees as a golden opportunity to increase margins, boost revenue and gain market share.