Cards

Payments-industry rivals sometimes put their differences aside to achieve a common goal.

Live Gamer Inc. has typically provided virtual currency services to video game developers, but as Nevada prepares to let casinos take their high-stakes games online, the vendor is betting that its expertise will prove valuable when the games put real cash at stake.

All eyes have been on Square this month with its investment from Starbucks and its new pricing option, but Intuit says it still has an advantage in mobile payments that Square can't match.

Some experts question whether the United States can meet the deadlines the card brands have set for converting to the EMV chip-card standard from magnetic-stripe cards.

In the coming months, moviegoers with Interac debit cards will pay for their tickets and popcorn with a tap of a card at any of 134 Cineplex Entertainment theaters throughout Canada.

It was inevitable that Gen X consumers would overtake Baby Boomers as the generation most often using credit cards. But their habits may leave card brands unsure of how to develop products for even younger consumers in the future.

Fair Isaac spotted a spike in U.S. credit card fraud taking place online, by mail and over the telephone.

To make up for some of the shelf space it could soon be losing at big-box retailers, Green Dot is partnering with student lender Sallie Mae to market a prepaid card to students who do not have a traditional bank account.

First Financial Federal Credit Union of Maryland has signed a new long-term agreement for First Data's Star Network to provide PIN-debit point of sale and ATM access to its cardholders.

A Pennsylvania-based start-up is working to expand the availability of local merchants' gift cards through software that makes virtual versions for online use. The goal is to open traditionally local sales to the rest of the country.

Nearly a third of acquirers surveyed still view mobile payments as a threat.

U.S. gasoline demand rose 1.9% last week as prices at the pump jumped to a 13-week high, according to data from MasterCard Inc.

American Express is most popular for mail-order purchases on the West Coast and in the Northeast; Discover is most popular in the Midwest. Litle & Co. learned these and other trends in an analysis of its processing data.

PayPal's point of sale mobile payment system combines over half a decade of initiatives — and a few notable setbacks along the way.

As a new partner for PayPal, an early partner for Isis and the first issuer to sign on to a new method of participating with Google Wallet, Discover Financial Services is establishing itself as a foundation for mobile payments initiatives.

PayPal next year will extend its reach through Discover Financial Services' network, enabling direct acceptance of the PayPal digital wallet at more than seven million U.S. merchants.

When credit card issuers find their portfolios aren't living up to expectation or within the strategy they set for them, they often put them up for sale. Could debit card issuers do the same?

Visa is offering a new data encryption service that could compete with third-party security vendors' offerings. The service's launch also indicates the card brand's growing desire to push beyond the requirements of the Payment Card Industry data security standards.

If the Shazam electronic funds transfer network had its way, smart cards issued with EMV chips would require a single PIN that would both open the chip and route the transaction for settlement. But "that's still under discussion," an exec says.

First Midwest Bank in Itasca, Ill., has expanded its ATM presence by joining the Allpoint Network.