Fintech

Wells Fargo & Co.’s credit card portfolio shrank somewhat in 2010 as charge-offs declined sharply, the San Francisco-based company said Jan. 19 when announcing fourth-quarter earnings.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is issuing a prepaid card for the New York State Office of Children and Family Services to handle payments to parents receiving adoption subsidies, the New York-based issuer announced Jan. 20.

InsurCard has chosen Visa Inc. as the preferred payment network for the debit cards it offers to pay insurance claims, the Philadelphia-based card marketer announced Jan. 20.

Proposed limits on debit card interchange fees should have a neutral to positive impact on eBay Inc.’s PayPal Inc. operations, at least in the short term, Bob Swan, eBay chief financial officer, told analysts Jan. 19 during a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings.

WASHINGTON — The banking industry is mounting an assault on multiple fronts to weaken, stall or repeal the restrictions on debit interchange fees championed by Sen. Dick Durbin in the Dodd-Frank Act before the policy goes into effect this summer.

The head of TCF Financial Corp., which filed a lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Board in October challenging its proposed debit card interchange rate cuts, said Jan. 20 that growing opposition to the proposal may help his case. The effort is part of a multi-pronged attack from banks on the debit interchange restrictions (see story).

EBay Inc.’s PayPal Inc. unit in 2010 nearly tripled its eBay Mobile gross merchandise volume to $2 billion from the previous year, driven by strong holiday shopping, John Donahoe, eBay president and CEO, told analysts Jan. 19 during a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings.

Catalina Card Services Inc. is attempting to differentiate itself in the crowded general-purpose prepaid debit card market with a product that offers cardholders low-cost mobile phone services.

The Durbin amendment carved out smaller banks from its mandate to restrict debit swipe fees, and at least one of the major networks is willing to oblige, but equity markets do not appear to have cut the group much slack.

Addressing analysts Jan. 19 during a conference call to discuss fourth quarter earnings, Dan Poston, chief financial officer at Fifth Third Bancorp, noted it is too early to predict how the bank will react to reductions in debit card interchange revenue.