Cards

The Members Group and Co-op Financial Services have entered into a strategic partnership to create the largest payment-services provider for credit unions, the companies announced Jan. 5.

Visa Inc. says it plans to convert $1.6 billion of the shares that it holds on behalf of credit unions and banks to help fund a potential $4 billion settlement with merchants over a civil price-fixing suit.

Mumbai, India’s financial capital, soon will have an integrated smart card-based transit-ticketing system if the plans drawn out by the city’s Metropolitan Region Development Authority play out.

SAN FRANCISCO – Visa Inc. said it plans to convert $1.6 billion of its shares which it holds on behalf of credit unions and banks to help fund a potential $4 billion settlement with merchants over a civil price-fixing suit.

Prepaid debit cards that come with celebrity endorsements over the years have showed little staying power while whipping up storm clouds of controversy.

Young consumers are so turned off by the prospect of overdraft and debit card fees that some are turning their backs on financial institutions.

Payment innovation quickened its pace from technology to strategic partnerships last year, setting the stage for some dominant trends in 2012.

InteliSpend Prepaid Solutions LLC is offering a Visa-branded prepaid corporate card as an alternative to traditional corporate credit cards, the company announced an.4.

Citigroup Inc.'s new Facebook application moves the ball forward for banks that want to combine social media with banking activity, but it also raises concerns about privacy and security of consumer data.

Justice Department lawyers say a former government informant convicted of hacking into TJX and more than a dozen other leading retailers was never authorized by the U.S. Secret Service, which was employing him as an undercover informant, to steal data on more than 150 million credit card accounts.

BOSTON – Justice Department lawyers said a former government informant convicted of hacking into TJX and more than a dozen other leading retailers was never authorized by the U.S. Secret Service, which was employing him as an undercover informant, to steal data on more than 150 million credit card accounts.

Credit card issuers failing to promote recurring-payments options appear to be missing a significant opportunity to establish a fixed source of revenue and a means to reduce charge-offs.

Consumers outside the United States for years have relied on mobile phones to conduct crucial financial transactions such as collecting funds sent through remittances. M-Pesa in particular has helped millions of consumers in Africa to receive funds-transfers through a branchless mobile-banking service.

Which has their heads in the clouds? Merchants and consumers who fear a lack of data security in a cloud-based payment system? Or the vendors selling the systems that assure they are safer than centralized security platforms?

China UnionPay is expanding where holders of its branded cards may shop to include more than 8 million online merchants based overseas, the card network announced Dec. 27.

PointBank is looking to replace lost checking-account revenue by boosting its social media presence. A merchant-funded debit card rewards program also is helping in the cause.

Impending service slowdowns at the U.S. Post Service could provide a boost to bankers.

Umpqua Bank here has become the latest to be named in a lawsuit that alleges it manipulated the way in which it processed debit card transactions to increase its overdraft fees.

As banks look for ways to get revenue from free services like bill pay, they risk becoming a target of public outcry, as Verizon Wireless did over its planned $2 fee for certain bill payments.

The recent discovery of payment-terminal tampering at 24 outlets of California’s Lucky Supermarkets chain is raising fresh questions about the possible role of insiders in such highly coordinated crimes.