Fintech

A proposed policy by the European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, that would hasten migration to a Single Euro Area Payments system also may ban direct debit fees in 2012.

Ingenico S.A.’s new iSC220 and iSC250 point-of-sale terminals will accept magnetic stripe and both contact and contactless chip card payments, the terminal maker announced Jan. 4. The terminals, which also can capture signatures, go on sale later this quarter.

Online payment provider SafetyPay Inc. has inked a deal with the Brazil-based bank Banrisul to enable the bank’s 3 million customers to use its platform to make online purchases from international merchants, the firm announced Jan. 5.

The top banking authority in India has issued a new regulation designed to further protect cardholders from fraudulent transactions made at ATMs.

U.S. online sales volume reached a record $32.6 billion during the 2010 holiday shopping season, up 12% from $29.1 million during the corresponding period a year earlier, according to data comScore Inc. released Jan. 5. ComScore’s data reflect e-commerce sales during the period from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31.

India’s banking regulator has extended to Feb. 1 the deadline it had set for banks in the country to add a second layer of security to credit card transactions conducted over mobile phones.

Taiwan on Jan. 1 began taking initial steps toward creating an integrated transit-payment system by introducing multicard readers on Taipei’s bus network, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

Meta Financial Group Inc.’s escalating regulatory problems could foreshadow broader scrutiny for prepaid card companies.

Cash-back rewards programs for credit card users are effective and relatively affordable tools to enable issuers to increase their market share at competitors’ expense, the results of recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago suggest.

United Bank Card Inc. is making its Harbortouch point-of-sale system available for free to merchants that continue to use the company to process their payment card transactions, the Hampton, N.J.-based independent sales organization announced Jan. 3.