Cards

Cash payments will account for less than half of all retail transactions in the United Kingdom by 2015 as consumers increase their use of payment cards, especially debit cards, according to a UK Payments Council report.

Florida is preparing to make Visa-branded reloadable debit cards an option this fall for residents obtaining unemployment benefits from the state, according to the state's Agency for Workforce Innovation.

RegaloCard April 15 announced a five-year partnership with Almacenes Siman, a Central American department-store chain that operates stores in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

The Vietnam Bank Card Association has appealed to the State Bank of Vietnam to support its decision to allow banks to collect 1,000 dong (6 U.S. cents or 5 euro cents) as fees for ATM transactions from their cardholders, an official from the Ho Chi Minh City-based association of card issuing Vietnamese banks confirms to PaymentsSource.

Indian Bank has entered the credit card market in India, launching cards for corporations and small and midsize companies, an official from the Chennai-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

The Russian Europay Members Association, whose members include all of Russia’s card issuers and merchant acquirers, has joined the European ATM Security Team, although Russia is not a member of the Single Euro Payments Area.

Hoping to take advantage of what it says is a growing popularity of ‘virtual’ gift cards that use card numbers but no plastic, gift card processor TenderCard is offering independent sales organizations the ability to sell merchants Giftango Corp.’s virtual gift card system.

Hypercom Corp. plans to use its new point-of-sale products for use with Apple Inc.’s iPhone not only to reach mobile merchants but also to target brick-and-mortar retailers that want to expedite client purchases and avoid long lines at sales registers, Stuart Taylor, Hypercom vice president of global solutions and marketing, told PaymentsSource this week at the Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting and Expo in Las Vega.

Bankers’ Bank, a correspondent bank that serves nearly 700 Midwest community banks, on April 15 announced it has signed a five-year agreement to offer its customers access to First Data Corp.’s Star electronic funds transfer network.

Community banks are planning to improve their mobile banking offerings, according to research by Banc Investment Group LLC.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. is pushing a money-disbursement service it says can cut colleges' paper costs by electronically distributing financial aid payments to accounts tied to a student identification and general-purpose debit card.

Citing modest improvements in its recession-battered card portfolio, JPMorgan Chase & Co. today reported a $303 million loss within its Card Services unit for the first quarter ended March 31; it reported a $547 million net loss during the same period last year.

Criminals increasingly are using prepaid cards to replace cash, and payment organizations should understand the risks associated with the trend, Susan Smith, senior trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, told attendees this week at the Electronic Transactions Association Annual Meeting and Expo in Las Vegas.

Financial losses from European ATM fraud declined in 2009 as more deployers began installing EMV-compliant machines.

Apriva is offering training and educational tools to its independent sales organization resellers to help increase their knowledge of and ability to sell wireless smartphone-enabled point-of-sale products, according to the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based wireless-payments provider.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC is weighing its next steps as the merchant processor nears its one-year anniversary as a joint venture between Fifth Third Bancorp and Advent International Corp., a Boston-based investment firm (see story).

The city of Taichung in central Taiwan plans to install 1,500 readers by the middle of next year that accept all contactless prepaid transit cards issued throughout the country, an official from the city’s department of transportation tells PaymentsSource.

Paper checks are on the way out but Deluxe Corp. still sees opportunities to use that traditional payment method to expand its business.

Hypercom Corp. announced April 13 plans to sell two versions of a card reader that plugs into an iPhone and uses its wireless connection to handle card payments. The products, called SmartPayments Mobile, are designed for merchants that want to accept card payments but cannot be tied to an office location because of the nature of their business.

To highlight consumers’ ability use credit and debit cards to conduct tax payments, MasterCard Worldwide is touting acceptance of its products at a tax-payment Web site.