Cards

Once the redheaded stepchild of consumer banking, the prepaid card business now looks more like the industry's future.

Square's sales pitch has largely been based on the ease of plucking its mobile card reader of a retail store's shelf and suddenly being able to accept swiped card payments. But for some merchants, it hasn't been so easy.

When TSYS announced its purchase of NetSpend this week, it seemed like an odd fit for the 30-year-old processor. But NetSpend isn't just some tangential business line — at some point, prepaid cards (and the companies that offer them) became a very real threat.

Seeing an opportunity to mitigate the growing problem of student loan debt, student finance companies such as SimpleTuition and Sallie Mae are expanding debt management offers, including the use of card payment rewards.

ATMs can serve as more than cash dispensers for gift cards — they can dispense the cards as well, Better ATM Services Inc. says.

VeriFone Systems Inc. shares tumbled as much as 35 percent after the maker of credit-card terminals forecast second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates, amid weak economic conditions in Europe.

The National Bank of Abu Dhabi is providing a customer service and security boost for its 570-unit ATM network throughout the United Arab Emirates.

Square Inc. is introducing hardware designed to work with its mobile-payment software, seeking to replace cash registers by companies including NCR Corp. and stepping up competition with eBay Inc. and Intuit Inc.

Huntington, which currently has 31 branches and 53 ATMs in the state, said it expects the machines to be installed by the middle of March.

Many merchant payment systems lack the technology needed to safely store card data, resulting in 70% of merchants not meeting data security requirements, a new report says.

CoreFirst Bank and Trust is under pressure on two fronts when it comes to payroll cards. It faces strong competition from large banks and other rivals, as well as a heavy state and national regulatory burden.

Card issuers are increasingly using social networks, coupons and rewards to boost mobile payments, but it’s a plan that can backfire if the initiatives get the wrong mix of marketing, demographics and delivery channels.

For the processor Total System Services, buying the prepaid card marketer NetSpend is transformational. For NetSpend it's going to be business as usual, the companies say.

The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council has published its latest data security guidance for merchants accepting payments with smartphones or tablets.

By any measure, a 60-user rollout is small. But it gives MasterCard Inc. a MasterCard Mobile Wallet test that touches many Coles supermarkets across Australia.

LATHAM, N.Y. – Sunmark FCU said this morning it signed with Elan Financial Services to offer a full suite of Visa card products with newly enhanced bonus rewards options, including cash back, merchandise, gift certificates as well as travel rewards to its 45,000 members.

Coinbase makes it simple to buy and sell bitcoins via a bank account, but plays only to the low-fee, frictionless nature of Bitcoin and fails to leverage its unique privacy aspects.

With the clock ticking for ATM owners to begin accepting EMV chip cards, BPC Banking Technologies plans to bring software to the U.S. to help banks navigate the complex conversion to smart-card technology on their ATM fleets.

Payment technology is gaining momentum and changing rapidly. More and more places around the world are adopting unique methods of payment.

The National ATM Council Inc. says MasterCard should delay its upcoming April 19 ATM liability shift deadline for its Maestro cards used at U.S. ATMs, based on the industry's slowness in deciding on a common code for EMV debit transactions to satisfy federal routing choice mandates.