Cards

Verizon Wireless’s decision to prevent Google from providing its Wallet mobile payment app on the new Galaxy Nexus smart phone, has not gone unnoticed in Washington.

Banks supporting campus card programs linked to prepaid accounts believe their ties with college-age consumers are meeting the goal of building future loyal customers by giving them basic payment tools and a financial education they can carry on as their start their careers after graduating.

In the evolution of Near Field Communication-based mobile payment technology, 2011 was a big leap forward for NFC handset distribution. But experts are stopping short of calling it an unqualified watershed year in NFC development.

Banks have been much maligned for nickel-and-diming their customers, but in another area–cardholder fraud protections–they are being praised as consumer champions.

Persuading consumers and merchants to shun the traditional way to pay and accept payment for goods and services using plastic remains Dwolla Corp.’s chief goal. But the company also is working to plug some holes in its service.

Anxious to see signs of growth after the recession’s chilling effect on borrowing, the credit card industry may be relieved to see Discover Financial Services reporting an uptick in credit card purchase volume for its fiscal fourth quarter.

VeriFone Systems Inc. has defied the headlines decrying gloom over the European debt crisis by enjoying continued growth in the region while continuing to expand payment-terminal installations rapidly in Latin America.

Mobile wallets have turned into vital payment tools for consumers in many African nations thanks to M-Pesa. Hoping to take advantage of this trend, Western Union Co. is expanding its mobile funds-transfer service to Tanzania to accommodate users who also subscribe to Vodacom’s M-Pesa mobile wallet.

Mobile wallets have turned into vital payment tools for consumers in many African nations thanks to M-Pesa. Hoping to take advantage of this trend, Western Union Co. is expanding its mobile funds-transfer service to Tanzania to accommodate users who also subscribe to Vodacom’s M-Pesa mobile wallet.

Someday, such a thing as an alternative payment no longer may exist.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. is offering a mobile app that uses "augmented reality" to help customers locate branches and ATMs.

ESL Federal Credit Union has introduced a suite of prepaid gift and reloadable Visa debit card products in conjunction with PSCU Financial Services, the companies announced this week.

A year ago, banks expressed an interest in mobile banking and payments during discussions with Fiserv Inc. This year, those that have not already made a real play to support the technology appear ready to do so, Fiserv says.

China UnionPay earlier this month announced transit card interoperability for the city of Guangdong’s Zhongshan Links and Macau’s Macau Quick Pass cards, opening up intercity travel for the two cities’ residents.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – ESL FCU has introduced a new suite of prepaid gift and reloadable Visa debit card products, in conjunction with PSCU Financial Services.

Visa Inc. may be preparing to debut its ties to Google Inc.’s Google Wallet mobile-payments scheme in London at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, sources suggest.

Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. are just starting to rev up their marketing engines for their daily-deal services. Groupon Inc. and LivingSocial are the mainstays for now, but all four companies soon will face competition from PayPal Inc.

Various technology and banking analysts have identified mobile banking as a hot area for new and expanded information-technology investment, with Ovum and Celent, for example, both placing mobile high on their list of bank IT priorities for the next year.

Kenya has introduced rules to compel banks and card networks to improve their security standards to check the rise in ATM fraud in the East African country.

Payment Card Industry data-security standards continue to fail merchants in their most vulnerable hour, as one restaurant chain might have prevented a credit card fraud scheme if it equipped its payments systems better to address third-party intrusions, a security expert contends.