Credit

Payment card-based merchant-funded incentives are saturating the market, leading observers to predict market consolidation among service providers could occur soon.

PhoneFactor Inc. has added a smartphone application to its suite of out-of-band security products, the company announced Dec. 5. But its effectiveness will depend on user participation, one observer contends.

More banks and credit unions are considering getting back into credit card issuing after selling their portfolios over the past four to seven years, but their reasons for doing so vary, notes Tim Kolk, owner of TRK Advisors, a Peterborough, N.H.-based provider of portfolio-consulting services.

Tucson (Ariz.) Old Pueblo Credit Union has signed a credit card processing deal with PSCU Financial Services to facilitate its re-entry into the cards market, one of dozens of credit unions reversing earlier exits from the cards business.

Toronto-Dominion Bank has completed an acquisition deal with MBNA Canada.

The average U.S. consumer credit card charge-off rate declined again in October as more consumers met their monthly payment-due dates and the delinquency rate on late payments held steady, according to the latest data from Moody’s Investors Service.

Commuters in Dubai earlier this week became the first in the United Arab Emirates to be able to use one card across public transport systems and for retail purchases at stores, supermarkets and restaurants.

Discover Financial Services is expanding efforts to tie its credit card rewards to social media by enabling gamers to redeem their points for gift cards and online credits.

HDFC Bank Ltd. has launched a card designed for working women in India in hopes of garnering a greater share of the country’s overall credit card market, the issuer announced Nov. 30.

The Indian Ministry of Finance is considering reducing the interest rates banks can charge on consumers’ outstanding card debts to make owning credit cards more affordable and to encourage mobile payments.

A cybercrook attempting to purchase online products with fake credit cards or under a phony name likely would not be able to hide from a Retail Decisions Ltd. fraud-protection upgrade designed to enable merchants to know where their online shoppers are located, the fraud prevention consulting and payment processing firm announced Nov. 28.

Seamless Distribution AB believes it has developed a mobile-payment method that replaces the need to shop with credit and debit cards, thus saving money for merchants who no longer would have to pay card-related fees, the payments software company announced Nov. 29.

Acculynk Inc. is banking on its relationships with major U.S. retailers to help it secure card-network partnerships in the international market to deploy PaySecure, its Internet PIN-debit product.

Credit cardholders have high satisfaction levels with their most frequently used cards mainly because they never have had problems with them, according to new research from Auriemma Consulting Group.

American Airlines’ bankruptcy could create some collateral damage for Citigroup Inc., which runs the airline’s large rewards credit card program.

Processor 99Bill Corp. has entered the cross-border electronic-payments market in China, offering payment-processing services for Chinese merchants that sell their products and services internationally, the Beijing-based company announced Nov. 19.

The Financial Service Authority in the United Kingdom has authorized Euronet Worldwide Inc. to acquire ATM and credit card transactions throughout most of Europe without the requirement of a sponsor bank, the e-payments provider announced last week.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday were robust for retailers, which could translate into a profitable start to the holidays for cyber criminals as well, a data security expert suggests.

Dissatisfaction with high annual percentage rates is the main reason consumers cancel credit cards, according to new research from Auriemma Consulting Group.

Navy Federal Credit Union has partnered with Cartera Commerce to launch a rewards program that offers members extra cash back and rewards points with online-shopping offers linked to their credit card accounts, the financial institution announced Nov. 29.