Cards

Banks in India will have to pay National Financial Switch 1 rupee (2 U.S. cents or 1.5 euro cents) for every ATM transaction they route through the network, an official at the Reserve Bank of India tells PaymentsSource. The Institute of Development and Research in Banking Technology, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, had waived the previous 2 rupee switch fee in 2007 to reduce ATM charges.

ATM manufacturer Wincor Nixdorf AG Monday reported a lower profit and reduced net sales for its fiscal 2010 first quarter ended Dec. 31. Eckard Heidloff, the company’s president and CEO, warned in a statement the slowed global economy will cause further declines for the entire fiscal year.

Under an agreement with Korean payments network BC Card, Discover Financial Service is enabling BC Card holders to use the Discover, Diners Club International and Pulse networks for international purchases and cash access outside of Korea, Discover announced yesterday.

The 5,000 merchant locations and more than 50 independent sales organizations Payment Alliance International acquired from Comdata Processing Systems already have transitioned to using Payment Alliance’s products and services, says Donna Embry, senior vice president of Louisville, Ky.-based Payment Alliance.

Visa Inc. earlier this month launched an online advertising campaign to promote debit card use among young adults in Latin America. The “I Go with Visa Debit” campaign, which ends April 12, is designed to educate young adults on why using debit cards for payment is faster, more convenient and more secure than using cash, Visa says.

Sino Payments Inc., a U.S.-based payments processor that operates out of Hong Kong, says it has signed its first agreement with a European acquirer, Valitor. Under the deal, European merchants will be able to use Sino Payments to process online and card-present transactions.

Torrance (Calif.) Community Credit Union said it successfully accepted its first mobile phone deposit over an iPhone.

PayPal Inc. helped drive its parent eBay Inc. to its first profit increase in more than a year, reports Bloomberg News.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Members Group, the newest entry to the market for credit union card portfolios, is financing increasing numbers of cards purchases by loans from credit unions it is calling its collateralized advanced program.

Citibank is enabling its 13 million ThankYou Network rewards members to donate points to the American Red Cross International Response Fund that is assisting in relief to Haiti following the earthquake on Jan. 12. Members can make donations of $50 and $100.

Ingenico SA this week added the chairman title to CEO Philippe Lazare’s role at the France-based point-of-sale terminal maker. Jacques Stern, who had been Ingenico’s chairman since 2007, remains a director of the company.

Serverside Group LLC this week announced it is providing the software that will enable United Kingdom consumers to purchase customizable, MasterCard-branded gift cards through Quantum Card Services’ Web site.

First Data Corp. recently announced a shakeup of its international division as part of an effort to unite the company into a single global organization designed to develop and deliver products faster.

Has "Tap and Go" come and gone?

Citigroup Inc. announced Thursday that it has integrated credit card account information into its downloadable Citi Mobile application for the Apple Inc. iPhone.

Consumers are eager to use contactless stickers for routine payments as a bridge before Near Field Communication-equipped mobile handsets are available on a mass scale, suggest the results of a recently completed Discover Financial Services pilot.

Vietcombank Co. Ltd. will cancel and reissue all of its Connect24-branded debit cards because of a State Bank of Viet Nam plan to standardize the country’s bank identification number system, an official at the Hanoi-based bank tells PaymentsSource. More than two dozen other banks similarly plan to reissue cards.

China’s Ministry of Public Security and the People’s Bank of China soon plan to launch a 10-month nationwide campaign to crack down on bankcard crimes, the ministry notes in a statement on its Web site.

Ingenico SA generated $976.3 million (691.4 million euros) in revenue in 2009, a 5% decrease from $1.03 billion the previous year, according to preliminary financial results the France-based point-of-sale terminal maker released yesterday. Ingenico’s preliminary results do not include net-income figures.

The $60 million settlement (see story) Heartland Payment Systems Inc. and Visa Inc. announced earlier this month regarding the large data breach the processor reported a year ago “has many weaknesses,” claims three law firms representing issuers of Visa cards.