Regulation

Tobias Boyland, former owner of several Buffalo, N.Y. area collection agencies, is being sought by U.S. Marshals after he failed to surrender to start a 15-year prison sentence.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the financial-services watchdog agency Congress mandated last year as part of the Dodd-Frank Act, on Feb. 3 launched its website, laying the groundwork for soliciting consumer complaints about credit cards and other financial-services products.

MasterCard Worldwide CEO Ajay Banga expressed concern about the effects of the Federal Reserve Board’s proposed debit-interchange rules, but he also sketched out various scenarios in which MasterCard may benefit during an analyst conference call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings.

Banks in China face tougher scrutiny of credit card issuance under new China Banking Regulatory Commission regulations to curb misuse in the card market.

An increasing number of consumers are being hounded by debt collectors for unsubstantiated debt, according to a new report issued today by Consumers Union and the East Bay Community Law Center.

Unlike some of their peers, Wells Fargo & Co., U.S. Bancorp and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. don't have to devote a hearty portion of their investor presentations these days to discussing mortgage repurchase requests.

Several groups are continuing to push for a pan-European EMV smart card to compete with cards sponsored by Visa Europe and MasterCard Worldwide. But whether a new card scheme actually will emerge remains as murky as when the efforts first were launched several years ago.

Visa Canada insists the Canadian Competition Bureau’s legal challenge to eliminate the company’s consumer-protection policies has no merit and would be harmful to consumers.

Federal Bank Ltd. on Jan. 26 became India’s first debit card issuer to stop charging its customers who use other banks’ ATMs, regardless of how many times they do so, a spokesperson for the Kochi-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

An estimated 426 different collection agencies and creditors were sued under consumer statutes in the first half of January, up from 392 in the second half of December but down from 510 in the fist half of December, according to data from U.S. district courts.