Technology

Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC will handle ATM and debit card processing services for two Colorado retail banking companies, the Cincinnati-based processor announced Dec. 22.

The Fed’s proposed new interchange rules may bring a quick end to free checking, two analysts say.

Merchant acquirers might be breathing a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal to cap debit card interchange rates at 12 cents per transaction (see story). But though the proposed rules would not directly affect them, issuer reaction might, observers say.

With so-called debit card fees poised to take a severe hit, some payments analysts say a similar attack on credit card interchange rates is inevitable.

Only two of the 2,150 U.S. credit unions with credit card receivables of $1 million or more sold portfolios during the third quarter ended Sept. 30, as many buyers still remain wary about overall credit union health, according to AssetExchange, a Portland, Ore.-based credit union card broker.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a final rule Dec. 21 to move to electronic payments instead of checks for federal benefits and nontax payments.

Targeting underbanked consumers in the United States, US Alliance Group Inc. and Chexar Networks Inc. have launched a check-cashing product that enables consumers to deposit checks directly into accounts tied to MasterCard-branded prepaid cards, US Alliance Group announced on Dec. 15.

Australia’s ongoing migration to using chip technology on payment cards instead of magnetic stripes, which the country will complete in 2013, should reduce the country’s card-fraud losses, according to the Australian Payments Clearing Association, a self-regulatory body of the Australian payments industry.

Various factors may have come into play regarding Ingenico S.A.’s Dec. 19 rejection of an unsolicited, nonbinding offer.

First Data Corp. now has a roster of more than 100,000 U.S. merchants handling transactions through its TransArmor security service, meeting a goal the company set when its launched the product nearly three months ago, the company announced Dec. 20.