Cards

BPS SA has become Europe’s first financial institution to deploy a biometric ATM that enables customers to use their index fingers instead of cards and four-digit PINs to withdraw funds, the cooperative bank based in Warsaw, Poland, announced May 11.

Payments-industry players are vowing to begin lobbying members of Congress in hopes of blocking further progress of an interchange-regulation amendment to the financial-reform bill the Senate passed on May 13 that they believe would have devastating consequences.

Moneris Solutions Corp., Canada’s largest debit and credit card processor based on annual transactions, will adopt Canada’s voluntary code of conduct for the country’s debit and credit card industry. Moneris’ top executive announced the company’s decision May 13.

Few details have emerged about plans to create a pan-European debit card network called Monnet, which would compete with Visa Europe and MasterCard Worldwide. The European Central Bank, however, is firmly behind the creation of a scheme to create more network competition in the region.

U.S. Bancorp this week announced plans to offer employers what it says is the first product that consolidates multiple types of employer-sponsored health care benefits and reimbursements on a single payments card they can manage through the bank’s website.

WASHINGTON—The battle over interchange fees intensified Thursday as banks and retailers lobbied hard over an amendment to reform how merchants pay for card processing.

The ATM Industry Association and vault-cash provider Cash Connect on May 13 urged ATM-industry players urging them to contact their U.S. senators in hopes of defeating an amendment to the proposed federal Consumer Financial Protection Agency that would cap ATM surcharge fees.

Thirty European banks, including Deutsche Bank AG and BNP Paribas SA, reportedly are pushing ahead with plans to create a debit card system in Europe that would compete against debit networks operated by Visa Europe and MasterCard Worldwide.

Marathon Oil Corp. is linking its 4,000 petroleum stations to Visa Inc.’s ReadyLink prepaid card reload network, Houston-based Marathon announced today.

Against long odds, EMV cards are finally coming to the United States.

Branded Marketing LLC is trying to combat churn by offering free insurance policies to users of its prepaid cards.

For the time being the mobile banking environment is fairly safe. That's not because mobile phones are secure, often they're not. Few people use passwords or install anti-virus software. Security experts say they're safe simply because cybercriminals have not yet seriously targeted phones for malware. But as more people adopt mobile banking and it becomes more transactional-not just checking balances and getting alerts-the threats are likely to mount quickly.

The fast growth of social-networking sites containing users’ personal information is drawing concern from some payment data-security experts who say the risk of exposing consumers’ sensitive data is rising. And mobile-payment devices pose similar risks because many developers lack data-security expertise, they say.

Banks and independent ATM deployers in the United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France and Italy own and manage Europe’s five-largest ATM networks. However, smaller countries tend to get the most out of their ATMs, research data show.

The PIN Transaction Security standard consolidates three formerly separate requirements for PIN-entry devices in an update released today by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council.

Banking-technology vendor Billeo Inc. on May 11 introduced an online bill-payment tool designed to enable consumers to make immediate bill payments using credit or debit cards through their bank’s website.

Yespay International Ltd.’s Emboss platform has become Canada’s first EMV chip-and-PIN card-acceptance service fully certified by Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC, according to the London-based payment-services provider.

With demand surging for person-to-person transfer systems, payments companies are developing ways to make the transactions settle faster.

Before the mobile contactless payments race has even kicked off, First Data and Visa have grabbed the wheels of the pace car to move the pack faster. Tired of waiting for phone makers and carriers to embrace the concept, both firms have teamed with tech firms to develop products that allow customers to place NFC chips into mobile phones that accept microSD cards.

U.S. Bancorp on May 10 announced a flat overdraft fee that applies to smaller items in a move it expects will reduce the bank’s overdraft revenue by up to $300 million this year when combined with other bank initiatives and the effects of new federal overdraft legislation. The new fee takes effect Aug. 15.