Cards

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.

Member banks of India’s largest ATM network will be required to pay 0.80 rupees (about two U.S. cents or 1 euro cent) for each ATM transaction, the National Payments Corporation of India said this month following a series of negotiations with banks.

Banks that want a partner network to help them offer remittances now have more options, and at least one of the alternatives is gaining traction.

MasterCard Inc. hopes that the wisdom of crowds will help it eliminate the need to build alternative payment systems.

Total System Services Inc.’s TSYS Healthcare unit has inked an agreement with Lighthouse1 LLC that it says will enhance its offerings of consumer-directed health care payments, including enabling consolidation of consumer health care payments onto a single payment card.

Laborers in India’s most-populated state of Uttar Pradesh are receiving biometric smart cards through which they may receive their wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, whose goal is to help workers avoid being cheated out of their pay.

Laxmi Bank Ltd. in Nepal has launched an online-payment service, an official from the Kathmandu-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Malaysian citizens now may use their Touch n’ Go contactless transit cards to pay for parking at stations in the local subway network in select cities, a spokesperson for the local transport authority Rapid KL tells PaymentsSource.

Malaysian citizens now may use their Touch n’ Go contactless transit cards to pay for parking at stations in the local subway network in select cities, a spokesperson for the local transport authority Rapid KL tells PaymentsSource.

Malaysian citizens now may use their Touch n’ Go contactless transit cards to pay for parking at stations in the local subway network in select cities, a spokesperson for the local transport authority Rapid KL tells PaymentsSource.

Three New York transit agencies are kicking off a contactless payment test today that they hope will show credit and debit cards can replace closed-loop fare cards — and lead to wider use of contactless cards in general.

In lobbying to defeat an amendment to the bank bill that would roll back interchange fees on debit cards credit unions are finding themselves in an increasingly familiar position – opposing the consumer lobby groups.

Nebraska state officials are warning lawmakers that the debit-interchange amendment in the Senate financial-reform bill could have grave implications for states using prepaid debit cards to disburse government benefits.

Mobile merchants in nations where chip-and-PIN cards using the EMV standard are used will have an opportunity to use VeriFone Systems Inc.’s PayWare Mobile service for the iPhone later this year, VeriFone says.

Melbourne’s Myki smart card ticketing system reportedly has failed another test. Local newspapers in the Australia city report the system was unable to adjust fares for senior cardholders automatically, forcing operators to manually adjust their accounts.

The Independent Community Bankers of America and the Credit Union National Association have once again joined forces to oppose Sen. Richard Durbin's interchange amendment in the Senate regulatory reform bill, arguing the provision should not be part of the final legislation.