Cards

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve this afternoon proposed rules aimed at lowering interchange fees on debit transactions that could cap fees at 12 cents per transaction, about what the current median cost of authorization, clearance and settlement is (see proposal).

Washington Trust Bank in Spokane is offering mobile banking services to its customers through text, mobile Web and dedicated applications using mFoundry Inc.'s software.

Google Inc. is collecting the pieces for a major mobile payments system — but it is a long way from assembling them.

FICO announced Dec. 15 it has been awarded eight new patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for advances in credit scoring, credit account management, credit fraud management, insurance fraud management and other areas, bringing its portfolio of U.S. patents to more than 100.

A mobile-commerce company in Berkeley, Calif., says it has devised a means to enable mobile phones to communicate with chips in attached stickers to support true Near Field Communication payments and two-way communications between NFC chips.

William Smith relies on prepaid debit cards as he travels the country tattooing musicians in vans, trailers, hotel rooms and houses. The 32-year-old Ocala, Fla., tattooer (see photo) says he has no bank account, just a low-cost MoneyCard obtained from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

EMC Corp. has launched a consulting service designed to help prepare merchants to manage their payment-security needs, the Hopkington, Mass.-based security-technology company announced Dec. 15.

Russian Standard Bank has become the first European bank to offer person-to-person funds transfers through MasterCard Worldwide’s MoneySend platform, the companies announced Dec. 6.

Voltage Security Inc. said that the online payment provider ClickandBuy International Ltd. would use its system to protect payment data.

Canadian consumers historically wait until two days before Christmas to make key holiday purchases, according to data from the Interac PIN-debit network and Acxsys Corp.

Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, announced Dec. 14 several executive promotions.

Visa Inc. has launched a mobile shopping application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone to enable holders of Visa cards to access various merchant discounts using their mobile phones, the card company reported on Dec. 14.

PKO Bank Polski SA has selected Gemalto NA to support the transfer of the bank’s entire portfolio of Visa Inc. magnetic stripe debit cards to EMV smart cards that support Visa’s payWave contactless functionality, France-based chipmaker Gemalto announced earlier this month.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – One member of Altura CU won an Apple iPad for using her Altura Visa debit card.

Giesecke & Devrient GmbH recently became the first company to receive MasterCard Worldwide’s certification for an M/Chip Advance-compliant card product, the Germany-based technology provider announced on Dec. 9.

Some 90% of U.S. consumers are not familiar with ATM skimming, new survey data suggest.

Consumer shopping in November reversed a five-month decrease in the average transaction size, transaction processor First Data Corp. notes in its November SpendTrend report.

S1 Corp. has signed 10 clients to use the payment service it offers from PayPal Inc., the software provider announced Dec. 14.

Jacksonville, Fla.-based JM Associates Federal Credit Union is the first financial institution to use Star CertiFlash, a new PIN debit application offered by First Data Corp.’s Star Network that advances point-of-sale security using one-time card number technology.

Dollar General Corp. discount stores nationwide have begun offering Visa-branded reloadable prepaid cards, card-program provider nFinanSe Inc. announced Dec. 14.