Cards

Catalina Card Services Inc. is attempting to differentiate itself in the crowded general-purpose prepaid debit card market with a product that offers cardholders low-cost mobile phone services.

The Durbin amendment carved out smaller banks from its mandate to restrict debit swipe fees, and at least one of the major networks is willing to oblige, but equity markets do not appear to have cut the group much slack.

Addressing analysts Jan. 19 during a conference call to discuss fourth quarter earnings, Dan Poston, chief financial officer at Fifth Third Bancorp, noted it is too early to predict how the bank will react to reductions in debit card interchange revenue.

At first glance Xipwire Inc.'s mobile payments system seems obsolete next to competing services — its software isn't based on a sleek-looking digital wallet application on a smartphone and it doesn't rely on payment chips that turn mobile devices into tap-and-go credit cards.

MasterCard Worldwide has launched a version of its ATM Hunter mobile application for smartphones that run on Google Inc.’s Android operating system, the card brand announced Jan. 19.

Hypercom Corp. has signed a deal with a German retail chain that will deploy 30,000 of its Artema Hybrid point-of-sale terminals over the next 30 months, the terminal maker announced Jan. 19.

Hypercom Corp. has signed a deal with a German retail chain that will deploy 30,000 of its Artema Hybrid point-of-sale terminals over the next 30 months, the terminal maker announced Jan. 19.

EBay Inc.’s payment unit, which includes PayPal Inc. and Bill Me Later, experienced a strong fourth quarter, eBay reported this afternoon.

The Indian capital city of New Delhi is testing a new, automated parking-management system that will accept payment cards from motorists either onsite or online, an official from the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure Centre tells PaymentsSource.

Manila’s two suburban rail networks are conducting a trial in the Philippines to test the use of a common contactless smart card for their commuters.

Tanzania Posts Corp. and Vodacom Tanzania Ltd. have inked a mobile-banking agreement in which Vodacom will use the postal service’s network of branches as agents to support its M-Pesa funds-transfer service.

Within the United States, Ingenico S.A. already may be benefiting from the proposed merger between VeriFone Systems Inc. and Hypercom Corp., rival point-of-sale terminal makers.

Acculynk Inc. has worked over the past two years to position its PaySecure product as the standard for Internet PIN-debit transactions. It now plans to bring the same payment technology to smartphones.

Wells Fargo & Co.’s credit card portfolio shrank somewhat in 2010 as charge-offs declined sharply, the San Francisco-based company said Jan. 19 when announcing fourth-quarter earnings.

U.S. Bancorp had expected to wait to see how other financial institutions reacted to recent legislative and policy changes that have or will affect revenue before deciding on the course of action it takes.

Merchant processor Chase Paymentech LLC’s new Safetech Fraud and Security Solutions suite of services will rely on VeriFone Systems Inc.’s VeriShield Protect product for advanced encryption services, VeriFone announced Jan. 19.

American Express Co. is closing customer-service centers in Madrid, Spain, and in Greensboro, N.C., because the locations have become too understaffed to maintain, the New York-based company announced Jan. 19.

Starbucks Corp.’s Grande-sized mobile payments trial has gone Venti.

Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC has rolled out a suite of services called Safetech Fraud and Security Solutions, the New York-based merchant-processing unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced Jan. 18.

Gemalto NV is participating in a Near Field Communication payment pilot in Japan that launches this quarter, the France-based technology provider announced Jan. 18.