Cards

At least 10 new clients adopted Mitek Systems Inc.’s mobile check-capture software last quarter, including three of the top 10 U.S. retail banks and a top-30 credit union, the San Diego-based vendor announced Jan 18.

Some banks long have sold postage stamps through ATMs. The U.S. Postal Service plans to return the favor by selling payment cards at post offices.

Using mobile phones to track and redeem credit and debit card loyalty points soon may become key elements of loyalty marketing, according to Andrew Davidson, senior vice president at Mintel Comperemedia.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC has agreed to supply ATM and debit card transaction processing and other services to six credit unions, the Cincinnati-based processor announced Jan. 18.

Citing improved credit quality and higher overall purchase volume, Citigroup Inc. on Jan. 18 reported a $623 million profit for its Citi-branded credit card operation for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31; the unit reported a $51 million loss during the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 71%, to $4.07 billion from $2.38 billion.

MasterCard Worldwide will be the exclusive brand of the Transport for London’s Oyster card wallet as the international card brand hopes to raise consumer awareness of its PayPass contactless-payment service, MasterCard announced Jan. 17.

Global Payments Inc. will provide multi-currency processing services to merchants in the United States and Canada through a deal with Planet Payment Inc., the Atlanta-based merchant processor announced Jan. 18.

Netherlands-based RePay International Ltd. and Chinese loyalty-management company China Rewards Pvt. Ltd. jointly plan to introduce the ClimaCount Card Scheme, a carbon-offset program, to the Chinese market, the two companies announced on Jan. 11.

Merchant-level salespeople who use POS Portal Inc. as their point-of-sale equipment distributor now have a mobile-phone tool that enables them to check the availability and wholesale pricing of devices, POS Portal announced Jan. 4.

Punjab & Sind Bank Ltd. has awarded a contract to HCL Infosystems Ltd. to provide smart card technology support for a rural financial-inclusion project, according to a regulatory filing by the state-owned bank.

UniCredit Group has awarded GmbH a three-year contract to supply electronic-payment services for banks in UniCredit’s international banking network, the Germany-based technology provider announced Jan. 17. The contract took effect Jan. 1.

Cardtronics Inc.’s Allpoint surcharge-free ATM network has added more than 2,500 Cardtronics Mexico ATMs deployed in retail locations across Mexico, including Oxxo convenience stores, Cardtronics announced Jan. 18.

Person-to-person payment services increasingly are becoming available, but most consumers are using them to substitute check use to pay bills to small businesses instead of to exchange funds with other individuals, such as when splitting a dinner check, new research suggests.

Discover Financial Services' execution of its long-expected "mobile wallet" will define its role in mobile commerce, a future where consumers make contactless payments with their cell phones and receive wireless deals as they enter stores. "Unlike existing mobile technologies that are transactional in nature, the mobile wallet truly facilitates mobile commerce," predicts Gloria Colgan, Discover's svp of emerging payments.

Up to 5% of banked consumers might be forced to leave the banking system if financial institutions must alter pricing to make up for reductions in debit card interchange, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co., told analysts during a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter earnings (see story).

Global Axcess Corp. has completed two acquisitions that will expand its ATM and DVD kiosk businesses, the self-service kiosk provider announced Jan. 14.

Driven by a lower provision for credit losses, partially offset by lower net revenue, the Card Services unit at JPMorgan Chase & Co. generated fourth-quarter net income of $1.3 billion; it reported a $306 million loss during the same quarter ended Dec. 31 last year, Chase reported this morning.

Verifi Inc., which provides risk-management services for card-not-present merchants, has formed a partnership with Demandware Inc. to provide online merchants with fraud-prevention and risk-management services, Verifi announced Jan. 12.

The Treasury Department's plan to let tax filers receive their refunds on a prepaid card could boost revenue for Green Dot Corp., the program's manager, by as much as 10% in 2012.

First Data Corp.’s decision to consolidate its merchant and card-issuer processing operations could help the payments company trim costs and better seize opportunities stemming from pending debit card regulation, analysts said Jan. 13.