Cards

NCR has launched a new automated teller machine in North America designed to improve the consumer experience and reduce costs associated with operating the ATM network.

Thirty-four percent of merchants interviewed late last year for an Aite Group research report on EMV readiness had never heard of the U.S. migration to EMV-chip payment cards, despite the fast-approaching October 2015 deadline set by the card networks.

As the Federal Reserve and other entities push toward developing a faster payments system in the U.S., it has become increasingly apparent that a good place to start is through debit networks.

It may take years for most small merchants to accept EMV-chip cards in the U.S., but the country's ultimate goal of adopting the secure payment technology is coming together faster than what was seen in other EMV markets.

Corporate credit cards have long been favored for expenses, but are not appropriate for all situations and are not available to all employers and employees. Just as prepaid cards have brought more of the unbanked into the financial system, stored-value cards could also push past the limitations on credit card-based expense systems.

Cardtronics has renewed its automated teller machine services agreement with the convenience store chain, The Pantry.

As Starbucks has proven for years, few retail interactions are more tailor-made for mobile payment than coffee sales. But when U.K.-based grocery chain Marks & Spencer launched its own coffee loyalty app in a 58-store trial in London, it chose to keep its menu much simpler.

Green Dot Corp. plans to start offering credit lines to its customers, a move that likely foreshadows how new regulations will reshape the prepaid card industry.

Green Dot reported a net loss in the fourth quarter as it spent money to diversify beyond its flagship prepaid card business.

The ATM and bank technology provider Diebold has named two executives to lead its international finance and data security offices.

Banks partnering with prepaid card providers face the potential of higher deposit insurance fees and other ramifications from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. classifying accounts as "brokered."

MasterCard's Antonio Corro is building a new payments system in Myanmar, a country that's springing to economic life after decades of military turmoil and political unrest.

Mobile payment and commerce provider Mozido LLC is bringing on a former MasterCard executive as its president for global markets.

The Federal Reserve System released a detailed vision for improving the speed of the U.S. payment system. It is latest step in a process meant to spur change at a time when the country has fallen far behind many nations that have adopted real-time payments.

Data breaches have hit many retailers hard over the past year or so, and Stage Stores is doing everything it can to make sure customer payment data can't be exposed.

The Starbucks gift card is the foundation the coffee chain's mobile and rewards strategy, and for good reason. In 2013, one in eight Americans received a Starbucks gift card as a holiday gift. In 2014, it was one in seven.

The ATM Industry Association is forming the ATMIA Marketing Committee to share information, help members promote their products and raise the status of marketing in the ATM business.

New, experimental consumer marketing programs have played a significant role in the way technology has upended the payment business in recent years. And Visa is looking to get in on the action.

As he assumes the role of CEO of 'buy local' offers company Buzz Points, Dwayne Spradlin predicts that certain trends in technology and consumer habits will breathe life into a loyalty model that has stagnated in the past.

Lower gas prices are prompting more card spending on restaurants, hotels and other discretionary categories, according to Richard Davis, U.S. Bancorp's chairman, president and CEO.