Cards

A reciprocal agreement involving Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute and the Philippines’ MegaLink ATM network will enable both organizations’ customers to access each other’s ATMs, MegaLink announced in July 27 statement.

Economic pressures that caused volume to decline in Europe and decreases in mobile-operator rates in some markets contributed to a relatively poor second quarter financially for Euronet Worldwide Inc.

With new restrictions taking effect and billions in fees at stake, banks are not giving up on overdraft services without a fight.

Visa shares slumped more than 5% Thursday after the company revealed that the U.S. Justice Department is considering suing it over a policy that bars merchants from charging extra to customers who pay with credit cards. Visa reports its earnings July 28 (see story).

PBS A/S, a Denmark-based electronic-payments provider, will process all transactions initiated with cards issued in Germany by Luxembourg-based Ikano Bank SE under an expanded contract agreement PBS announced on July 27.

The virtual gift card provider Giftango Corp. said eight incentive and loyalty companies have signed with it to date.

ProPay is introducing a secure virtual terminal that can help small merchants improve their data security.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted late Thursday to remove an interchange amendment authored by Sen. Dick Durbin.

In their first presentations to analysts after the financial reform bill passed, some bank executives treated the landmark legislation like any other facet of business, sandwiching relevant cost estimates between the usual slides on capital ratios and credit losses.

Visa Inc. may begin to see bottom-line effects from pending debit interchange regulations as early as next summer, Joseph Saunders, Visa chairman and CEO, revealed to analysts July 28 during a conference call to discuss quarterly results.

Diebold Inc.’s weak showing in the European market contributed to the ATM manufacturer’s 2.3% decrease in net income for the second quarter ended June 30, to $29.7 million from $30.4 million during the same time period last year.

Citing continued spending momentum and positive payment trends globally, Visa Inc. on July 28 reported increases in Visa card spending both domestically and internationally for the company’s fiscal third quarter ended June 30.

Mobile banking through mobile devices such as cellular phones, smart phones and personal digital assistants has more than doubled globally since 2008 with consumers in the Asia-Pacific region, Central and Eastern Europe and the United States at the forefront, new research from KPMG International suggests.

IPay POS Credit Card Terminal, the new version of the mobile-payment acceptance application called ProcessAway, now works with multiple gateways and comes with a card reader to accommodate card-present transactions, according to Randy Palermo, who developed the application that works on Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

Kuwait Finance House Malaysia Bhd. has become the first foreign Islamic bank in Malaysia to join the Malaysian Electronic Payment System, known locally as MEPS, an official for the bank tells PaymentsSource.

A worker at a local Wendy’s restaurant in Seattle was arrested yesterday, along with two alleged accomplices, and charged with identity theft after she allegedly used a “skimmer” to steal credit card information from as many as 135 customers.

All U.S. merchant processors likely will benefit from anticipated reductions in debit card interchange rates once the Federal Reserve Board next year finishes its rate-setting task mandated by the Dodd-Frank financial-reform bill President Obama signed into law last week. But they will need to be careful in how they share their savings, Paul Garcia, chairman and CEO of Global Payments Inc., told analysts July 27 while discussing the company’s fiscal fourth quarter earnings.

About a fourth of First Data Corp.'s 800 call center employees will be laid off by Sept. 1, according to the transaction processing giant.

Visa Inc. on July 28 reported net income of $716 million for the fiscal third quarter ended June 30, down 1.8% from $729 million during the same period a year earlier. Net operating revenue was $2 billion, up 21.2% from $1.65 billion, driven by growth in data processing and international transaction revenue, the company said.

WASHINGTON–The banking industry was caught off guard this week as Sen. Dick Durbin, fresh off a victory to add interchange regulation to the financial-reform bill, mounted another legislative effort on interchange that appears to be gaining momentum.