Technology

Two years after launching its first version of mobile banking, U.S. Bancorp has upgraded the service by integrating it with online banking and expanding its remote deposit check capture offering to include more devices.

South Korea’s telecommunication regulator is partnering with mobile-phone operators and card networks in a pilot to test a Near Field Communication-based mobile-payment system on the country’s busiest shopping street.

Easycash Loyalty Solutions GmbH, an Ingenico SA company, has taken over the payment processing for French prepaid card issuer LaSer, strengthening a partnership that began a year ago, terminal maker Ingenico announced Nov. 21.

Microsoft Corp. insists the online service associated with the Xbox 360 video-game console did not experience a security breach despite some United Kingdom consumers who say they fell victim to a phishing scam tied to the system.

Retail shoppers who download a Shopkick Inc. mobile application on their smartphones to earn rewards points, or “kicks,” by walking into a store now may earn extra points by paying for purchases with a Visa-branded credit or debit card, Visa announced Nov. 21.

International funds-transfer providers have begun to acknowledge that most consumers in their remittance-heavy target markets use mobile phones as a primary tool. As such, services that require visits to a physical location or access to a personal computer are unlikely to catch on, some insiders say.

First Data Corp. has completed the merger of its transportation payment services with Transportation Clearing House LLC, creating a joint venture the companies hope will become a leading card provider in the transportation industry, the card processor announced Nov. 17.

Average consumer credit card debt in October fell 11%, to $6,600, from a year earlier but rose 1% from the previous month, according to Credit Karma’s latest U.S. Credit Score Climate report.

Consumers sued a total of 498 different collection agencies and creditors between Oct. 16 and 31, down 17% from 597 during the first half of the month, according to data from U.S. district courts.

The U.S. is in a balance-sheet slowdown: overleveraged households are tightening their belts and holding back on consumption, thereby choking off the economy's main engine.