Cards

In 2012, London will become the first city where domestic and international consumers may access an entire transportation network using open-loop, network-branded contactless credit or debit cards, the Transport for London announced Feb. 24.

News that another credit union is adopting EMV payment card technology to reduce cardholder hassles when traveling abroad adds ballast to the theory that some U.S. payment sectors won’t wait for a mandate to voluntarily embrace the chip-and-PIN method.

In a move some observers say might represent the future of loyalty and mobile payments, loyalty marketer Maritz Real-Time and smart card technology firm Vivotech Inc. have formed a strategic partnership to provide immediate retail promotions to customer mobile phones equipped with Near Field Communication technology.

Consumers in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada soon may use their smartphone as a contactless payment device and mobile wallet using an application from Yespay International Ltd.

Integrating new card products into underserved, but financially viable, cultural groups takes more than just marketing campaigns translated into different languages or a flashy ad campaign using consumers from those communities. It takes trust, financial experts say.

Target Corp.’s credit card profits nearly quadrupled in the fiscal fourth quarter as the retailer wrote off fewer loans and socked away less to cover for future losses.

According to a Dow Jones report, top executives at Citi, the third-largest bank in the U.S. by assets, have long felt it was too technocratic, with a focus on products rather than service and selling. Manuel Medina-Mora, consumer chief for the Americas, pledged change, and in September hired Cecilia Stewart as head of retail and Jud Linville as head of cards to help design and implement a new strategy.

Authorities discovered nine card-skimming devices attached to local ATMs last week that caused thousands of dollars of fraud losses to area institutions, including $5,538 in fraudulent cash withdrawals from members’ accounts at Hughes Federal Credit Union.

The anticipated Federal Reserve Board cap on debit card interchange may send some payments startups, which pitched their services as low-cost alternatives, back to the drawing board.

Axis Bank Ltd. has launched a Visa-branded prepaid card in India designed for foreign tourists visiting the country, the issuer announced Feb. 21.

Turkish consumers using Visa-branded debit cards equipped with EMV chips will have the ability later this year to get cash back at the point of sale at retailers that offer the service, Visa Europe announced Feb. 23.

States already using prepaid debit cards to disburse unemployment benefits likely saw economic and practical reasons to make the switch from distributing checks. Connecticut is the latest state to have similar aspirations.

The Electronic Transactions Association’s payments professional certification program will debut by the end of the year, the trade group announced Feb. 22.

Though perhaps there is no greater rivalry than Thin Mints versus Samoas, two Girl Scout groups are taking sides in a different debate: which mobile card reader is best for cookie sales.

Square Inc.’s Feb. 22 announcement that it had dropped the 15-cent transaction fee for card-present transactions represents a return to a rate scheme the merchant-services company had last spring.

Banks are looking beyond consumers to Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. to share the pain of lower interchange fees.

The Federal Reserve Board’s proposed new debit-interchange rates are unlikely to go into effect this summer without some significant changes, the co-chief of a large independent service organization speculates.

Security Card Services LLC’s decision to renew its processing contract with National Processing Co. stems partially from a degree of comfort the companies have amassed in their 14-year history of working together, according to John Lewis, the independent sales organization’s president.

Telefonica O2 Ireland is teaming with 3V Transaction Services Ltd. to launch 02 Money, a Visa-branded prepaid chip-and-PIN card, the Ireland-based mobile operator announced last week.

WASHINGTON — A year after the credit card reform law was enacted, Elizabeth Warren, the administration's official in charge with setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said the industry has improved its practices and warned against over regulation of the card market.