Cards

It's been more than two months since Lower Manhattan was engulfed by flood waters from Superstorm Sandy and many merchants are still without the ability to accept credit and debit cards.

InComm, the prepaid and transaction services company, purchased Giftango Corp. to expand its e-commerce gift card services.

Global Payments Inc. has "essentially completed" its data intrusion remediation efforts and will soon have its response to last year's massive breach of merchant and consumer card data reviewed by the major card networks—the final step before it can return to the networks' list of approved PCI-compliant vendors, according to executives of the Atlanta-based merchant processor.

The Alabama Crimson Tide is the unquestioned king of college football. And two banks are trying to muscle in on the glory.

BancorpSouth in Tupelo, Miss., is rolling out a prepaid debt card.

Banking on its brand and reputation for handling and transporting money securely, The Brink's Co. plans to enter the payments industry with a prepaid payroll card during the first quarter of 2013.

AJB Software Design Inc. plans to announce Friday its participation in the Visa POS Solutions Program (VPSP), which AJB says could allow it to link Visa's digital wallet, V.me, to the point of sale.

In North America, QR code-based mobile payment apps from Starbucks and LevelUp generate a code for each user, and the merchant scans the code to accept a payment. In Brazil, PicPay is flipping the model and making the consumer scan codes presented by the merchant.

The McDonald's at 6 Water St. in New York City has been shut down for more than two months, as it was one of the first buildings struck by surges of sea water from Hurricane Sandy. The ATM inside, if it still exists, has been inaccessible ever since. But the machine has shown up for weeks afterwards on some ATM locator smartphone apps, which did not notice the machine's absence in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Have you ever caught yourself paying a $3 ATM fee to avoid driving across town to your own bank's ATM? Add up the value of your time, gasoline costs, the need to complete a necessary task and it's easy to justify that $3.

Payments and social media have had a rocky relationship. Many companies that have tried to blend the two have failed or been forced to change their business model. Gumroad Inc., a startup founded by a 20-year-old veteran of Pinterest, says it gets it right.

Walt Disney Co. plans to use “MagicBands,” wristbands with built-in contactless payment technology, at its Disney World theme park in the next few months.

Consumer use of prepaid gift cards grew 10% in 2012, up to $110 billion in card loads, but an increase in fraudulent use of those cards and a growing need to protect consumers could follow, a new report warns.

It's going to be a big year for mobile payments. Now that several mobile wallets are in consumers' hands, the companies behind them are refining their products. What do Apple, Isis, Google, PayPal and others have in mind for the near future?

Google's initial launch of its mobile wallet at a special event in New York last year was a flashy affair meant to showcase every feature and every partnership. Its approach this year is much more low-key, as is that of its rival Apple.

In a Q&A with PaymentsSource, CEO Philip Beck explains how technology can help manage the complexity of international payments and the value proposition it brings to merchant acquirers.

If things are truly bigger in Texas, then mPowa CEO Dan Wagner figures it's a good place for merchants to be able to accept credit card payments via mobile devices in those wide, open spaces.

As more credit unions use video tellers to reach a wider audience, NCR Corp. purchased uGenius Technology Inc., a provider of video banking software, to improve sales of such systems to larger banks as well.

Many banks have kept hybrid credit and debit cards in testing mode for lengthy periods, suggesting that single cards offering dual payment options are yet to live up to their initial promise—and may never do so. The one exception: Fifth Third Bank, which says its hybrid Duo card has been a success.

NCR Corp. purchased the Sandy, Utah-based video banking software maker uGenius Technology Inc.