Cards

National Payments Corp. of India in November reportedly plans to launch a payment system that would enable consumers in that country to transfer funds for free to any account in India held by participating financial institutions using their mobile phones.

NFinanSe Inc. has reached an agreement to sell its Visa- and Discover-branded reloadable prepaid debit cards at Stripes LLC convenience-store locations throughout the southwestern United States, the Tampa, Fla.-based prepaid card provider announced Sept. 6.

VeriFone Systems Inc. said Wednesday that it has begun installing passenger-activated payment and multimedia information systems in taxis in Atlanta.

SecureKey Technologies Inc. has developed a way to turn any computer into a contactless payment terminal, bringing the improved security of contactless payments to e-commerce — without requiring online merchants to do anything to their systems.

An investor advocacy group is searching for Hypercom Corp. investors who feel jilted after the vendor's board last week turned down an unsolicited bid from rival VeriFone Inc. for more than $280 million (see story).

WASHINGTON — When Elizabeth Warren, the top administration official in charge of creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, called last week for simplified, comprehensible credit card disclosures, the industry applauded the goal.

PayPal Inc. is acting more like a bank these days and the addition of a mobile remote-deposit capture feature to its Apple Inc. iPhone application is helping solidify that view, according to one industry observer.

Commuters in the city of Mumbai will have to go through a process of documentation and verification before using their contactless smart cards on the city’s soon to be launched Metro and Monorail service.

One of the biggest banks in New Zealand is pioneering a new purchase scheme that will let Kiwi cardholders convert their small change into substantial savings.

Fairwinds Credit Union has renewed it relationship with the Star electronic funds transfer network and named it the union’s preferred provider of PIN-secured debit point-of-sale and ATM access.

Business Solutions Inc., a subsidiary of the American Bankers Association, is partnering with MasterCard Worldwide and TransCard LLC to launch a program to enable community banks to offer their customers MasterCard-branded prepaid products such as general-purpose reloadable payroll and gift cards.

Growing optimism at this week’s ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum was apparent among the nearly 800 attendees, a record for the 18th annual event. Yet anxiety also hung in the air as executives representing debit card issuers in particular sought help in securing insight into how the Federal Reserve Board will regulate debit interchange rates next year.

Citigroup Inc. is testing a payment card that lets consumers redeem rewards points at the point of sale, according to Dynamics Inc., which makes the cards.

While the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against three major card networks appeared to bolster merchants' case for regulating interchange fees, it may also have undercut a push for legislation targeting the issue.

In theory, retailers just gained significant ground in their fight against payment card fees.

Latham, N.Y.-based Sunmark Federal Credit Union has introduced a mobile banking application that will allow members to conduct financial transactions and to voice opinions about the credit union’s products and services.

Pending debit interchange rate rule-changes have thrown many card issuers into a quandary about strategies for existing debit card rewards programs, panelists said at SourceMedia’s ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Phoenix, Ariz.

Participants in a cross-industry forum to help develop U.S. mobile payments technology are nearing completion of a white paper that aims to identify the significant obstacles and opportunities facing the industry, Richard R. Oliver, executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, told attendees Oct. 5 at SourceMedia’s ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Phoenix, Ariz.

Bling Nation Ltd.’s deal with Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC could give them the entree they need to promote the company’s postage-stamp-sized contactless payment sticker across the country.

Westpac Banking Corp. is deploying 15,000 Hypercom Corp. Optimum-branded point-of-sale terminals as part of a $50 million deal the two companies announced last year (see story), Hypercom announced Oct. 5.