Cards

The joint venture Global Payments Inc.’s entered into in Spain late last year with one of Europe’s top banks delivered better-than-expected revenue and helped drive fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, the merchant processor’s top executive told analysts during a July 21conference call to discuss the quarter’s earnings.

Buoyed by the fast uptake of smartphones and tablets in the country, First National Bank Ltd. says it has become the first financial institution in South Africa to offer a mobile-banking application to its customers.

The former marketing executive of the publisher of the Guitar Hero and Call of Duty video games is now running BillMyParents Inc.’s marketing operations, the online payments company announced July 21.

Consumers paid an average of $9.69 to use prepaid cards to access government benefits in 2010, according to a new report from the Federal Reserve Board.

Though contactless payments have long been advertised for their ease of use, recent trials have departed from that premise. Some banks are putting the focus back on simplicity — and making payments as easy as a flick of the wrist.

NCR Corp. is reporting net income of $35 million for the second quarter ended June 30, up 75% from $20 million for the same period last year. Revenue was up 12%, to $1.31 billion from $1.17 billion, the Duluth, Ga.-based ATM and kiosk maker announced July 21.

To expand its service reach, Union Bank of India Ltd. says it plans to double its ATM deployments in India by the end of its fiscal year.

Bolstered by a resurgence in consumer spending and improving credit quality, American Express Co. on July 21 reported higher second-quarter income and revenues–and a steep increase in its marketing and rewards-program costs.

As the hype for widespread Near Field Communication-enabled mobile payments continues to heat up, eBay Inc.’s CEO doused some cold water on the concept, suggesting instead that large merchants will resist the unproven technology.

Discover Financial Services’ agreement with online-payments specialist Mazooma illustrates Discover’s goal to be in the forefront of all payments services, not just those related to credit or debit cards, a top executive with the card brand tells PaymentsSource.

Mobile payments will surpass 141.1 million users worldwide this year, a 38.2% increase from 102.1 million users in 2010, according to Gartner estimates released July 21. Worldwide mobile payment sales volume is forecast to total $86.1 billion, up 75.9% from 2010 volume of $48.9 billion.

Preventing a damaged reputation, more so than cost, is what drives online merchants to improve their data security and comply with industry standards. And more merchants are starting to use third parties to store their payments data to improve security and protect their reputations, new research suggests.

The U.S. prepaid gift card market has reached a point where consumers have become comfortable giving merchant’s proprietary cards as gifts and even reloading them for long-term use, new survey findings suggest.

A federal judge on July 20 approved a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Visa Inc. and MasterCard Worldwide that bars the two networks from enforcing bylaws preventing merchants steering business to less expensive forms of payment.

Merchants selling digital content likely grimace at the thought of a consumer making a 99-cent purchase using a credit card because of the fees involved with that transaction.

Buoyed by a reduction in loan-loss reserves and a modest increase in credit and debit card purchase volume, U.S. Bancorp on July 20 said second-quarter net income for its payments services unit doubled from the same period last year.

Giftango Corp. wants to give merchants a head start on the mobile-wallet age by placing two-dimensional barcodes on the back of their proprietary, closed-loop gift cards to enable consumers to convert the plastic to a digital format via a smartphone camera, among other capabilities.

Banks are still digesting a full plate of mortgage and other economic woes, but that is not stopping them from adding ambitious technology projects to their diet, if the first of the vendor earnings reports is an indication.

Signaling greater financial cooperation between the two countries, Bank of China Ltd., one of the big four Chinese banks, has begun issuing a debit card in Thailand.

To make paying bills quicker and easier, state-owned telecommunication operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. is partnering with card provider ItzCash Card Ltd. to launch a cobranded prepaid card in India.