Cards

A limited numbers of Bangkok commuters this spring will begin testing the use of a single, contactless smart card to access the city’s two train networks, an official at the Bangkok Mass Transit System Co. Ltd. tells PaymentsSource.

As payments executives debate which approach to mobile payments will win out, Bank of America Corp. is showing greater commitment to a system based on Visa Inc.’s specifications.

In a management shuffle announced Jan. 11, Obopay Inc. promoted its president to chief executive, and its previous CEO assumed the role of executive chairman.

Just as prepaid cards helped sell banklike services to the underbanked, an investment manager is planning to use similar cards to sell its products to the underinvested.

WASHINGTON – The banking lobby is rejecting Visa Inc.’s proposal for a dual system on debit card interchange, saying such a system would only force merchants to migrate to lower-cost cards as mandated for the biggest issuers.

Mobile payments startup Square Inc. has raised $27.5 million in venture capital, a spokesperson confirmed Jan. 11.

The now-defunct Kardashian Kard might have put the prepaid debit card industry in a bad position in the few weeks it was available.

China Banking Corp. has launched in the Philippines a mobile version of its online-banking service customers may use to inquire about account balances, transfer funds and pay bills, the Manila-based bank announced Jan. 6.

A bank in the Philippines on Jan. 10 launched a prepaid smart card capable of performing multiple payment functions at ATMs, payment terminals or online.

China’s second-largest mobile-network operator China Unicom has begun offering a contactless mobile-payment service in Beijing.

Banks’ “all-in-one-place” marketing for online bill-payment services is helping them gain more customers who pay their credit card debts through their online-banking sites instead of through their issuers, new research findings suggest.

Banks’ “all-in-one-place” marketing for online bill-payment services is helping them gain more customers who pay their credit card debts through their online-banking sites instead of through their issuers, new research findings suggest.

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are having second thoughts on a provision creating price controls on debit card interchange they easily approved during last year’s debate on the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act.

Tompkins Financial Corp. of Ithaca, N.Y., is one of many financial institutions that have been attacked by the sophisticated malicious software known as Zeus. Now it is fighting back–with sticks.

The company behind the celebrity-sponsored Kardashian Kard has sued reality television stars the Kardashian sisters for dropping their endorsement shortly after the prepaid card’s launch.

American Express Co. has appointed Toby Eduardo Redshaw executive vice president and chief information officer, replacing Stephen Squeri, who was promoted. Redshaw previously was global chief information officer for Aviva PLC.

Visa Inc. says it plans to implement a dual interchange schedule for issuing banks and credit unions in the wake of debit interchange regulation.

Improved revenue growth in the Asia-Pacific region, Canada and the United States provided a welcome fiscal second-quarter boost for Global Payments Inc. But the merchant processor was unable to turn the rise in year-over-year revenue into a concurrent boost in net income, as one-time charges related to a reduction in employees in Canada affected company earnings.

Payroll-services company Payzone will use ACH Federal’s automated clearinghouse processing services to support its small-business customers, ACH Federal announced Jan. 5.

U.S. consumers would be able to use their smartphones to pay, collect and redeem coupons, and price-compare products and services both online and in stores under a partnership deal ARS Interactive and CellPoint Mobile announced Jan. 6.