Technology

News that another credit union is adopting EMV payment card technology to reduce cardholder hassles when traveling abroad adds ballast to the theory that some U.S. payment sectors won’t wait for a mandate to voluntarily embrace the chip-and-PIN method.

In a move some observers say might represent the future of loyalty and mobile payments, loyalty marketer Maritz Real-Time and smart card technology firm Vivotech Inc. have formed a strategic partnership to provide immediate retail promotions to customer mobile phones equipped with Near Field Communication technology.

Consumers in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada soon may use their smartphone as a contactless payment device and mobile wallet using an application from Yespay International Ltd.

Axis Bank Ltd. has launched a Visa-branded prepaid card in India designed for foreign tourists visiting the country, the issuer announced Feb. 21.

Turkish consumers using Visa-branded debit cards equipped with EMV chips will have the ability later this year to get cash back at the point of sale at retailers that offer the service, Visa Europe announced Feb. 23.

States already using prepaid debit cards to disburse unemployment benefits likely saw economic and practical reasons to make the switch from distributing checks. Connecticut is the latest state to have similar aspirations.

The Electronic Transactions Association’s payments professional certification program will debut by the end of the year, the trade group announced Feb. 22.

Though perhaps there is no greater rivalry than Thin Mints versus Samoas, two Girl Scout groups are taking sides in a different debate: which mobile card reader is best for cookie sales.

Square Inc.’s Feb. 22 announcement that it had dropped the 15-cent transaction fee for card-present transactions represents a return to a rate scheme the merchant-services company had last spring.

A sharp drop in the level of loan loss provisions helped the banking industry earn $21.7 billion in the fourth quarter, the second highest quarterly total in more than three years, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Wednesday.