Cards

Blackhawk Network has a new Facebook application that enables friends on the social-media website to contribute as a group to a single gift card account, the Pleasanton, Calif.-based subsidiary of Safeway Inc. announced Dec. 24.

ATM manufacturers and independent sales organizations see nothing but an open road ahead as they expect growth in 2011 and beyond.

NCR Corp. an agreement with NRT Technology Corp. to provide support services for 1,300 NRT cash-redemption devices used in casinos nationwide, the Duluth, Ga.-based ATM and kiosk maker announced Dec. 23.

As major financial services providers sever ties to WikiLeaks, a little-known alternative payments startup in the U.K. has stood by the embattled organization.

U.S. Sen Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Dec. 22 sent a letter to Elizabeth Warren, special advisor to the secretary of the treasurer and the person responsible for establishing the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, seeking her help to protect consumers from attempts to circumvent new payment card regulations “by pushing consumers to less-regulated products such as prepaid cards.”

Independent sales organizations and acquirers will have to wait a while longer to accurately assess the impact of the Federal Reserve Board’s recent proposal to limit debit card interchange rates at no more than 12 cents per transaction, suggests an analysis from The Strawhecker Group, an Omaha, Neb.-based payments consultancy.

The Federal Reserve Board’s proposed new debit card interchange rules would result in $11.8 billion in revenue evaporating from issuers’ coffers, cutting large issuers’ debit card revenue on average by 73% per transaction and making debit cards “significantly unprofitable,” a new report suggests.

Debit card issuance has dipped slightly in Japan over the past two years, a new report suggests.

The Federal Reserve’s proposal to cap debit interchange fees at 12 cents per transaction has credit union CEOs facing larger issues than just how their own organizations may take the blow.

Dead phone batteries. Wrong merchant terminals. Terminals turned off. Terminals unrepaired. No terminals at all.

An Ingenico S.A. board member reportedly contends a takeover bid for the France-based point-of-sale terminal maker could be renewed.

Indian Bank Ltd. has awarded Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. a contract to assist in a smart card-based financial-inclusion project for India’s rural villages, the Chennai-based financial announced Dec. 16.

Tesco Bank, which is owned by supermarket chain Tesco PLC, has entered into an agreement to put Blackhawk Network’s Gift Card Mall displays in each of its 600 locations in the United Kingdom, the companies announced Dec. 22.

NCR Corp. an agreement with NRT Technology Corp. to provide support services for 1,300 NRT cash-redemption devices used in casinos nationwide, the Duluth, Ga.-based ATM and kiosk maker announced Dec. 23.

The Fed’s proposed new interchange rules may bring a quick end to free checking, two analysts say.

Consumers who purchased discounted goods early in the holiday season and during Black Friday and Cyber Monday likely contributed to an overall dollar volume decline through the first two weeks of December, suggests First Data Corp.’s SpendTrend payment card transaction analysis of all store sales activity that First Data processes.

Merchant acquirers might be breathing a sigh of relief following the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal to cap debit card interchange rates at 12 cents per transaction (see story). But though the proposed rules would not directly affect them, issuer reaction might, observers say.

With so-called debit card fees poised to take a severe hit, some payments analysts say a similar attack on credit card interchange rates is inevitable.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a final rule Dec. 21 to move to electronic payments instead of checks for federal benefits and nontax payments.

In the latest congressional assault on card fees, a group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation Friday that would limit the types of fees that could be charged on prepaid cards.