Cards

Banks in India soon will have to resolve ATM-related complaints within one week of consumers filing their grievances, the Reserve Bank of India ruled today. The policy takes effect June 1.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it is eager to deploy chip-and-PIN card technology as a stronger barrier against point of sale card fraud but that card issuers are balking.

Payments-industry lobbyists late this week began the uphill effort of trying to eliminate an amendment from the financial-reform bill the Senate passed May 20 that would enable the Federal Reserve to control debit card interchange rates.

The road to the widespread rollout and adoption of Near Field Communication mobile payments may be littered with potholes and speed bumps, but payments-industry executives still hope the technology can make a significant splash in the United States.

HDFC Bank Ltd. has become the first bank in India to issue chip-based credit cards that comply with the international EMV antifraud standard, an official from the Mumbai-based bank’s credit card operations tells PaymentsSource.

Best Buy Co. Inc.’s first store in Turkey will use a shared point-of-sale service, eliminating the multiple POS terminals commonly seen domestically on merchant countertops, according to Ingenico S.A., which is supplying the service.

Socialwise Inc.'s BillMyParents envisions a future where teenagers' spending becomes more social in nature — and parents can put a curfew on their kids' spending if necessary.

PALO ALTO, Calif. – A man charged this week with stealing three Stanford FCU ATMs is believed to be responsible for others of the almost 120 ATM thefts in the Bay Area over the past year-and-a-half.

The U.S. Senate May 20 voted not to include Sen. Tom Harkin’s amendment that would have regulated ATM surcharge fees in the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.

Software platforms that have enabled developers to create payment applications for use on Apple's iPhone and social-networking websites will have a significant effect on the payments industry over the next decade, David Evans, founder of Market Platform Dynamics, said.

The proposed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would set ATM surcharge fees under a new U.S. Senate amendment Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has introduced that would replace an earlier version designed to cap the fees at 50 cents per transaction.

Major U.S. merchants are ready to deploy EMV chip-and-PIN card technology as the strongest barrier against point-of-sale card fraud, but card issuers and networks are blocking their path, Jamie Henry, director of payment services at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said this week at the Smart Card Alliance’s annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz.

State Bank of India is increasing its domestic merchant acquiring activity with plans to deploy up to 1.5 million point-of-sale terminals for credit and debit card acceptance by March 2011, an official from the Mumbai-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

The Public Transport Ticketing Corp. of Sydney, Australia, has awarded Cubic Corp. a contract to oversee the adoption of a smart card ticketing system in that city, according to the transport authority.

Maxis Communications Ltd. has inked a payments deal with online-payments provider PayPal Inc., the Kuala Lumpur-based telecommunication operator announced last week. The agreement represents the first such deal worldwide between a mobile-network operator and an online payment-service provider, the telco says.

As retailers increasingly harness social-networking websites such as Facebook to market their brands, payment companies are seeking ways to capitalize on the trend.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. has entered a $41.1 million agreement with MasterCard Inc. to settle claims stemming from the 2008 security breach of the Princeton, N.J., company's processing systems.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D.-Iowa, has dropped plans to try to place a 50-cent cap on ATM surcharges, the National Association of ATM ISOs and Operators, a trade group representing ATM independent sales organizations, published in a May 19 bulletin.

The payments industry should not view consumers’ changing spending habits coming out of the recession as a threat but instead as an opportunity to provide new products and services to meet customer needs, Chris McWilton, president of U.S. markets at MasterCard Worldwide, said earlier this week during a keynote speech at the 22nd annual Card Forum and Expo in Orlando.

Financial institutions generally view fraud and regulatory pressure as their key challenges this year, according to the Pulse electronic funds transfer network’s 2010 Debit Issuer study released this week.