Bank technology

MasterCard is planning to open up its software format, enabling third-party programmers to develop payments applications for its network.

Visa Inc. will urge the Japanese government to use credit cards for all its purchases, from stationery to parts for fighter jets, saying it would save the country money.

The best thing about mobile payment apps is not the speed of transactions made with phones, but how the apps let people manage their accounts on their own instead of wasting time at the register, according to early results from retailers.

Best Buy Co. Inc.'s first store in Turkey will use a combined point of sale service, averting the multiple terminals commonly seen on merchants' countertops there, according to Ingenico SA, which is supplying the machines.

HDFC Bank Ltd. has become the first bank in India to agree to issue credit cards that comply with the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications.

Personal financial management software has long had a blind spot for cash spending. Some vendors are trying to change that, but fewer consumers may care than the companies realize.

Personal financial management software has long had a blind spot for cash spending. Some vendors are trying to change that, but fewer consumers may care than the companies realize.

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Mountain America Credit Union in Salt Lake City says software from Memento Inc. has helped it reduce fraud.

Though they are optimistic that near-field-communication mobile payments can make a splash in the United States, industry executives disagree on whether consumers want to carry phones with the technology.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it is eager to deploy chip-and-PIN card technology as a stronger barrier against point of sale card fraud but that card issuers are balking.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it is eager to deploy chip-and-PIN card technology as a stronger barrier against point of sale card fraud but that card issuers are balking.

Socialwise Inc.'s BillMyParents envisions a future where teenagers' spending becomes more social in nature — and parents can put a curfew on their kids' spending if necessary.

VeriFone Holdings Inc. has changed its name to VeriFone Systems Inc. The Holdings part of the name dated to the 1990s, when Hewlett-Packard Co. owned VeriFone, a VeriFone representative said.

Consumers' changing spending habits coming out of the recession present payments companies with an opportunity to deliver new products and services, a MasterCard Inc. executive says.

Sen. Tom Harkin has dropped plans to impose a 50-cent cap on automated teller machine surcharges, the National Association of ATM ISOs and Operators reported Wednesday.

With threats to interchange fees growing, issuers are looking for ways to hand off more of the costs of rewards programs to merchants.

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Visa Inc. has developed a social networking site tied to its sponsorship of the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer tournament that it hopes will encourage fans to use its cards.

IPayment Inc., a processor based in Nashville, has agreed to resell Roam Data Inc.'s RoamPay mobile phone card-acceptance system.