Technology

Bankcard charge-offs rates are still riding near their lowest levels ever, but the wind is shifting slightly for private-label retail credit cards.

Tinkoff. Credit Systems Bank, of Moscow, has upgraded to the latest version of the TSYS's card and merchant management product, called Prime 4, Total System Services Inc. announced Feb. 9.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. on Feb. 9 reported a fourth quarter drop in interchange revenue caused by new federal rates for debit card transactions, but the processor still posted a sizable increase in net income.

Propelled by the completion of two international acquisitions and a major processing contract with Royal Dutch Shell’s European unit, fleet card provider Fleetcor Technologies Inc. on Feb. 8 reported sizable gains in fourth quarter revenue and income. The company also anticipates a boost in U.S. revenue this year from a deal with a provider of GPS tracking services.

To improve merchant and consumer comfort with online spending, MasterCard Worldwide has formed a partnership with Silver Tail Systems Inc. to distribute Silver Tail's fraud-fighting analytics to merchants.

Consumer revolving debt is on the rise again, but it is still too early for lenders that earn profits on outstanding debt to exhale.

Continued growth in Wright Express Corp.’s fleet and payroll card businesses and in its operations in North America and Australia helped fuel double-digit fourth-quarter growth for the fleet card company.

Because 2012 represents a “feedback year” in the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council’s three-year cycle for establishing data-security standards, new council Chairman Mike Mitchell figures to absorb plenty of viewpoints about issues facing the industry along with the traditional complaints about compliance testing and costs.

Nearly 30% of consumers say they believe the economy and their personal finances are getting better, a jump of more than 6 percentage points from December and the highest figure in the last year, according to the Discover U.S. Spending Monitor.

Being late on paying one’s mobile-phone bill could affect a consumer’s chances of being approved for a credit card under a new initiative by Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd., India’s first and largest consumer credit bureau.