Cards

Physicians and other health care providers in Germany will have the opportunity to accept payment cards and process claims with the same payment terminal under an agreement in which First Data Corp.’s TeleCash unit will market Hypercom Corp.’s medHybrid payment and a-Health card terminal, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based terminal maker announced Sept. 29.

Consumer use of debit cards in India could grow if the Reserve Bank of India forces acquiring banks to lower the discount rates they charge merchants for debit card payments, suggests the results of a study by the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.

The global market for network-branded payment cards continues to grow at a healthy rate, as the number of cards issued worldwide in 2014 will exceed 10 billion, up from 7.4 billion in 2009, new research suggests.

The Chicago Transit Authority has moved into the next phase of launching an open-loop electronic fare-collection system that would accept contactless card and mobile payments, the organization announced Sept. 28.

The reloadable prepaid card market managed to break free from the regulatory grip of the Durbin amendment in the final version of The Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.

Jack Henry & Associates Inc.'s ProfitStars division has begun offering Mitek Systems Inc.'s mobile remote-deposit capture software, pairing it with its own Alogent Mobile Remote Deposit system.

U.S. Bancorp's Elan Financial Services said Wednesday that it is offering its clients a debit card rewards program through a partnership with Consumer Benefit Services Inc. of Naperville, Ill.

Research In Motion Ltd. is expanding the payment capabilities of its BlackBerry smartphones.

NCR Corp. said Wednesday that it is providing a mobile banking system to customers of Hancock Holding Co.'s Hancock Bank.

MasterCard Inc. is throwing more muscle behind its prepaid growth strategy by offering surcharge-free ATM access to its issuers and program partners.

By proposing to combine two of the world's three largest makers of payment terminals, VeriFone Systems Inc.'s hostile bid for Hypercom Inc. appears to raise antitrust issues.

MasterCard Worldwide is throwing more muscle behind its prepaid growth strategy by offering surcharge-free ATM access to its issuers and program partners.

Use of Visa Inc.’s payWave contactless-payment service in Hong Kong has more than doubled over the past year, the card company announced last week.

Bangalore Metro Rail Corp. Ltd. has entered into a partnership with the Mumbai-based State Bank of India that will enable commuters to receive debit cards that support both transit and traditional debit functions.

Mobile financial-services provider Monitise PLC is planning to make commercially available to financial institutions a mobile contactless-payment service following a pilot involving U.S. Bancorp, the London-based company announced Sept. 30.

Jeff Carter either is either in charge of selling the most transformational technology that will come to banking, indeed to human identification, in recent memory, or he's the most delusional former banker you'll ever meet.

A new payment-authentication company has developed technology that uses any phone to help verify Internet PIN-debit transactions conducted at participating merchant websites.

Datacard Group has acquired Dynamic Card Solutions, a leading provider of instant-issuance software for financial card programs, Minnetonka, Minn.-based Datacard announced Sept. 30.

MINNETONKA, Minn. – Datacard Group, the privately owned card services provider, announced this afternoon it has agreed to acquire Dynamic Card Solutions, the popular provider of instant card issuing for credit unions and banks.

VeriFone Systems Inc. announced Wednesday an unsolicited bid to buy rival Hypercom Corp. at $5.25 per share, which it described in a letter to Hypercom's board.