Cards

The total value loaded annually into network-branded prepaid debit card accounts in the United States could reach $440 billion by 2017, predicts a Boston Consulting Group report commissioned by MasterCard Worldwide.

MasterCard Worldwide July 12 announced that Carlos Menendez is joining the company as group executive of global debit. He will assume the position Sept. 1.

Through an arrangement facilitated by the European alliance of debit card schemes known as EAPS, holders of girocard debit cards issued in Germany as of July 12 may access the 63,000 ATMs within the United Kingdom’s Link electronic funds transfer network.

Green Dot Corp.'s initial public offering will be a major milestone for the prepaid card market regardless of the company's ability to reach its recently disclosed price targets.

Social-networking website Facebook quickly is becoming the next playground for payment companies.

A state-backed program to promote the Go Card, a contactless smart card-ticketing system the TransLink Transit Authority operates in South East Queensland, Australia, apparently is failing to meet its goals.

Bluepoint Solutions, a provider of remote deposit capture solutions, announced the release of QwikDeposit To Go, a mobile remote deposit capture application.

Sao Paolo, Brazil-based Itautec S.A., a maker of low-cost ATMs, plans to sell its full-service machines in the U.S. market starting this fall.

The allure of mobile payments, which Generator Research, a United Kingdom-based research firm, estimates will grow to an estimated $600 billion worldwide by 2014, has drawn AT&T Inc. into the fray, as have the merchants accepting payments via their phones. The telecommunication giant announced July 7 it will work with Apriva to sell the wireless-payments company’s AprivaPay and AprivaPay Professional mobile-payment services.

Many of Canada’s merchants and financial institutions are on track to meet a key deadline less than three months from now for converting to EMV chip-and-PIN card technology. And that means certain fraudsters likely will begin looking southward for new crime opportunities, experts in payment processing and terminal manufacturing say.

The number of Visa-branded contactless cards in use in the United Kingdom could reach 12 million by the end of the year, Visa Europe predicts.

When Mitchell Cobrin became the new president and CEO of HomeATM ePayment Solutions in March, it signaled a shift in the company’s business model.

Nxgen Payment Services, a Whitefish, Mont.-based merchant-service provider for Elavon Global Payment Services, and wholesale roofing distributor ABC Supply Co. Inc., on July 7 announced an expanded merchant-processing relationship in conjunction with ABC Supply’s recent acquisition of Bradco Supply Corp.

MasterCard Inc. announced a free application for Apple Inc.'s iPhone that lets users track special deals offered through the payments network's online shopping portal, MasterCard MarketPlace.

An unnamed quick-serve restaurant chain is testing Apple Inc.’s iPad portable computer as a customer-facing ordering and payment device, according to OrderTalk Inc., which makes online ordering systems for restaurants.

Emirates NBD, the largest banking group in the Middle East in terms of assets, on July 4 announced a promotion designed to encourage customers to use their debit cards more overseas instead of cash.

More than half of all Delhi Metro riders now use the agency’s prepaid contactless transit smart card, a spokesperson for the Delhi Metro Rail Corp. tells PaymentsSource.

RHB Bank Bhd. expects to add almost 500,000 credit cardholders this year through a promotional campaign that targets shoppers, an official from the Malaysia-based issuer tells PaymentsSource.

State Employees’ Credit Union has agreed with the Haliwa-Saponi Native American Tribe to place an SECU Cash Points ATM on the tribe’s grounds in Hollister, N.C.

PXT Payments on July 7 announced a smart debit card program in Brookline, Mass., tied to its Parcxmart street-parking application. Brookline and PXT officials are touting the card as a means for downtown retailers to compete with stores in malls that having plentiful parking.