Merchant

The consumer agency, which recently reached a large settlement with JPMorgan Chase over collections practices, turned its focus Wednesday to the country's two largest debt buyers.

First Data Corp., whose investors are led by KKR & Co., is preparing to seek at least $2.5 billion in what would be the biggest U.S. initial public offering this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Iron Mountain, the leading provider of document storage, is buying its main rival. If the merged company tried to raise prices, it might be the final straw that motivates banks to shift data storage to the cloud.

ING has purchased Belgian digital loyalty platform Qustomer as part of its larger strategy to boost mobile payments.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau took action Wednesday against the nation’s two largest debt buyers and collectors for allegedly using deceptive tactics to collect bad debts.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau imposed up to $79 million in penalties and refunds Wednesday in enforcement actions against the country's two largest debt buyers.

Kash Corp. is prepared to move into the money transfer world, launching an application programming interface (API) that will allow companies of all sizes to accept direct debit payments without credit card fees.

Americans had 314 million credit card accounts during the first three months of the year, the highest number since the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a report released Wednesday.

The Council of Better Business Bureaus released data showing that collection agencies received 21,576 complaints from consumers last year, the fifth most complained about financial sector.

Consumer borrowing rose by $19.1 billion in July, pushing the total to a record $3.45 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.