Cards

As mobile wallets and other high-tech payment mechanisms proliferate, they bring with them more options for security. Companies are increasingly looking for ways to use devices' built-in cameras to urge consumers to take self-portraits for authentication.

Avidia Bank of Hudson, Mass. has contracted payments technology company FIS to offer card-free ATM transactions through a mobile app.

American Express is introducing one of the payments industry's first prepaid debit cards with cashback rewards in an age where the best rewards are typically reserved for the more lucrative credit card market.

Total System Services (TSYS), the Columbus, Ga.-based payment processor, has hired Patricia A. Watson to be senior executive vice president and chief information officer, effective Sept. 14.

The rise of mobile payments has had only a narrow impact on the use of cash, according to a new report from the ATM Industry Association and business strategy consulting firm Tremont Capital Group.

The Debit Network Alliance has hired the Dutch firm Gemalto to provide consulting on implementing EMV anti-fraud technology.

Banco Santander SA and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Spain's top two banks, said last month they'd start charging non-customers about 2 euros ($2.19) a time to use their ATMs, joining CaixaBank SA, the third-biggest bank, which began levying the fee in March.

When the card networks' October deadline for EMV-chip card adoption arrives, things will likely have changed very little compared to how they are today.

When cardmaker American Banknote (ABnote) CIO John Ekers discussed his company's Apple Passbook Android clone last week, he observed that "in the last 3-4 weeks, we're getting a lot more interest in limited use keys (LUK)," which is the first element of tokenization.

Fraudsters, anticipating the U.S. shift to EMV security at the point of sale, are busy looking for ways to hack into the e-commerce sites and consumer bank accounts that will be unaffected by the change in payment card security.