Cards

MasterCard Worldwide on June 3 introduced an application designed to enable cardholders with Apple Inc. iPhones to initiate person-to-person funds transfers between MasterCard accounts. But thus far just one U.S. banking company is supporting the service.

Local governments, universities and charities in the United Kingdom may use First Data Corp. to manage their credit cards issued to employees now that the Atlanta-based company is an approved supplier to these types of organizations, First Data says.

Bus passengers in the United Arab Emirates city of Sharjah now may use smart cards to pay their fares, an official for the Sharjah Public Transport Corp. tells PaymentsSource.

China Mobile reportedly is delaying deployment of an RF-SIM contactless-payment technology based on a standalone 2.4-gighertz frequency and instead is adopting SIMpass, a contactless card that uses a 13.56-megahetz radio frequency and that is fully compatible with the widely accepted Near Field Communication standard.

A growing number of mobile payments companies are promoting systems that charge purchases to users' phone bills rather than credit or debit cards.

The final provisions of the Credit CARD Act take effect in August, but issuers are still in the dark about several key requirements that will affect how they calculate penalty fees.

Despite marketers’ efforts to expand the network-branded gift card market, consumers still prefer to purchase closed-loop prepaid cards as gifts, new research suggests. Fees and poor marketing may be the chief reasons why.

Consumers typically receive rebate payouts through prepaid cards or checks. Soon they also will have the option to have the funds deposited directly into a PayPal Inc. account.

Octopus Cards Ltd. in December will launch a contactless smart card consumers may use in Hong Kong and in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. The card will support separate accounts in Hong Kong dollars and Chinese yuan, an official at the company tells PaymentsSource.

DBS Bank Ltd. plans to expand its ATM network in Singapore by adding 100 ATMs by the end of this year. Once the expansion is complete, the bank’s network will grow to 1,070 ATMs, according to the Singapore-based bank.

Kuwait Finance House has migrated its network of point-of-sale terminals and ATMs to EMV chip-and-PIN technology, an official from the Kuwait City-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Target Corp. on June 3 announced a new rewards program designed to drive more transactions to its branded payment cards. Customers paying with a Target credit or debit card will receive a 5% everyday discount at the point of sale on all purchases.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 2 filed civil charges against several current and former executives at Diebold Inc. In addition, the agency filed paperwork in federal court finalizing a $25 million settlement the ATM maker reached with SEC staff two years ago to resolve three years of legal issues with the regulator.

Four out of five U.S. households with Internet access now bank online, suggest the results of a Fiserv Inc. survey released May 25.

Four out of five U.S. households with Internet access now bank online, suggest the results of a Fiserv Inc. survey released May 25.

A provision in the regulatory reform bill that banks already oppose is drawing new attention over who will implement it.

The belief that consumers would benefit from lower prices if the Senate debit card interchange amendment is included in the final version of the Restoring American Financial Stability Act might not actually be true, concludes a report from banking research firm Celent LLC.

After undergoing several consumer pilots and tests with European banks, Visa Europe’s new CodeSure payment card is now available for commercial launch. The card provides cardholders additional security when making online purchases by generating single-use numeric codes.

Mega Cabs Pvt. Ltd. plans to begin accepting credit card payments in its fleet of taxicabs in India later this month, an official from the New Delhi-based cab operator tells PaymentsSource.

Over the past three months, the National Bank of Oman has expanded its ATM network, adding 33 machines and cash-deposit devices, which customers may use to deposit cash into savings accounts and pay bills with their ATM cards, an official from the bank tells PaymentsSource.