Cards

WASHINGTON – Senator Jon Tester will introduce a bill later today that would delay implementation of the controversial rule on debit interchange for as long as two years while NCUA and bank regulators study its impact on credit unions and community banks, with a similar bill to be introduced later in the House. The Montana Democrat’s bill sets up a showdown with Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard Durbin, the Illinois Democrat responsible for the interchange amendment in last year’s Wall Street reform bill. Durbin’s intransigence on the issue means that supporters of the delay will probably need 60 Senate votes to overcome a Durbin filibuster–a steep requirement because Durbin’s interchange amendment easily passed the Senate last spring by a 64-to-37 vote. A separate bill being drafted in the House would also delay the interchange rule but for a year, not two, while regulators, including the Federal Reserve, NCUA, FDIC, Office of Thrift Supervision, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency study two aspects of the provision: the costs associated with debit transactions and the effect of the Fed’s proposal on consumers, merchants and card issuers, and the network exclusivity and routing reqirements. The two bills come as time is running short to stop the interchange amendment, as the Fed is required to approve a final rule by April 21 and implement it by July 21. Credit unions and banks have mounted opposition to the rule–engineered by the powerful merchants lobby–which would cap fees on debit interchange to as little as 12 cents per transaction and open the debit market to new competition by setting new requirements for routing and network exclusivity. The stakes in the battle are enormous, with merchants paying credit unions and banks $20 billion a year in debit interchange, some $2.5 million alone to credit unions.

Union Bank of India Ltd. has released a request of proposal for the outsourcing of installation and maintenance of 1,000 ATMs.

Diebold Inc. will manage more than 1,100 ATMs in India under an agreement with Axis Bank Ltd., the country’s third-largest private-sector bank, the ATM maker announced March 14.

International energy company National Grid PLC has begun offering electronic bills to its U.S. customers through Fiserv Inc.’s e-Bill Distribution system, the companies announced March 14.

U.S. Bancorp will be adding a mobile remote deposit capture service to its mobile banking features, the Minneapolis-based institution announced March 14.

Apple Inc. boasts that its iPhone “changes everything,” but against the expectations of many bankers, it may not be changing payments–at least, not this year.

The Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland Council has begun using AppNinjas Inc.’s Swipe Credit Card Terminal for iPhone to accept credit and debit cards from consumers buying members’ cookies, the organization announced March 9.

National Payment Card Association in June will begin marketing an open-loop decoupled debit card this summer, according to Joe Randazza, its chief executive.

Yespay International Ltd. has released its application programming interface specifications that merchants may use to integrate Yespay’s mobile-based services into their point-of-sale systems, the London-based payment-services provider announced on March 11.

WASHINGTON – Visa and MasterCard are telling their credit union and bank owners the uncertainty they will face over litigation costs for a pending antitrust case over the networks’ anti-steering provisions will continue indefinitely, even as the controversy escalates over the Federal Reserve’s proposed rules on debit fees.

Apple Inc. may not be building a contactless payment capability into its next iPhone.

TCF Financial Corp.'s William Cooper is rethinking his long-held belief that economies of scale don't matter in banking.

China UnionPay has signed an acceptance agreement with US-based Citibank that will see UnionPay cards being accepted in seven other Asian nations, a spokesperson for China’s bankcard association confirms PaymentsSource.

A stock analyst on March 11 upgraded shares of Green Dot Corp., contending recent concerns over the prepaid card company’s regulatory risks are overblown.

Continued global expansion of EMV smart card programs helped drive revenue and profit growth last year for Gemalto NV’s Secure Transactions unit, which includes banking cards, the France-based smart card vendor announced March 11.

Seven Bank Ltd. has signed an agreement with U.S.-based The Western Union Co. to offer Western Union’s funds-transfer services in Japan.

WASHINGTON – Senator Dick Durbin insisted yesterday he will fight every effort to delay the pending implementation of his initiative to lower interchange fees paid to credit unions and banks.

WASHINGTON — In a rare show of unity, the leading bank and credit union industry groups filed a joint friend-of-the-court brief on Friday to support TCF Financial Corp.'s lawsuit against implementation of a rule that would limit interchange fees on debit cards.

WASHINGTON — Bankers and other financial executives continued their full-court press to delay pending restrictions on debit interchange fees, even as lawmakers prepared to move forward on plans to delay the new requirements.

As the health care industry eyes new systems to streamline and improve the collection of payments from patients, New York-based Phreesia Inc. is promoting a tablet-like device that records patients’ personal and insurance information and doubles as a card-payment terminal.