Merchant

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. this week announced it will offer members of the National Restaurant Association a suite of payment products that includes card processing, check services, and payroll, tip-reporting and compliance reports as part of an agreement between the payment processor and the Washington, D.C.-based trade group.

Bank of India is looking to acquire more than 100,000 point-of-sale terminals this year as part of its POS-network expansion drive, an official from the Mumbai-based financial institution tells PaymentsSource.

Elavon, U.S. Bancorp’s merchant-acquiring unit, has purchased Citizens National Bank’s portfolio of more than 300 merchant-processing accounts, according to the companies. Terms were not disclosed.

SourceMedia Inc., publisher of PaymentsSource, today announced the appointment of Douglas J. Manoni as chief executive officer. He replaces James M. Malkin, who has left the company.

Editor's Note: Collections & Credit Risk has a 15-year tradition of honoring outstanding industry performers. In our series "Industry Champions" we look at those who have worked tirelessly to improve their field in a meaningful way. Nominations for this series are accepted and encouraged.

The financial services industry has witnessed mergers and acquisitions of the country’s largest banks, the collapse of some of the most trusted financial icons, the mortgage meltdown and government bailouts - namely TARP. All of this has taken place in the past 18 month.

Merchant cash-advance company AdvanceMe Inc. this week announced it has added data to its statements to enable merchants to compare their monthly card sales from the same month a year earlier and how their sales measure up against a peer group.

Quick Collect Inc., a collection agency in Portland, Ore., did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) while trying to collect from a consumer, a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled this week. The decision upheld an opinion issued by a U.S. District Court judge in Washington.

An estimated 20,000 to 25,000 collection lawsuits filed in Maryland will be dismissed as a result of the collapse of legal collection giant Mann Bracken LLP, Maryland District Court Chief Judge Ben Clyburn's office confirmed today. Clyburn made the decision to dismiss the lawsuits after learning the firm had notified district court clerks across the state that it will shut down by the end of this month.

Here’s a sobering economic indicator: freshly charged off consumer debts are now selling for what tertiary debts — those previously placed with two collection agencies — commanded just a few years ago.