Credit

In an effort to thwart fraud attempts at the earliest stage of the online ticket-purchasing process, Turkish Airlines Inc. has opted to link its website to CyberSource Corp.’s fraud-monitoring services.

Alliance Data Systems Corp. will take over the private-label credit card program for Pier 1 Imports Inc., the retailer announced Oct. 5.

The combined effects of tighter lender underwriting criteria and continued consumer discipline in keeping credit card accounts current drove the bankcard delinquency rate to new lows through the second quarter, according to new data from the American Bankers Association.

Though it established a two-tier rate structure to accommodate issuers exempt from new caps on debit card interchange established by the Federal Reserve Board, Visa Inc. made only minor changes to the rates acquirers use to determine how much they pay card issuers with less than $10 billion in assets.

A regional rural bank in India on Sept. 29 launched a trial to test a new mobile-based version of India’s Kisan credit card, which farmers use to buy equipment and products such as fertilizer and seeds at a lower interest rate.

New regulations that are sweeping across the banking industry, particularly the Durbin amendment to the Dodd/Frank Act, have financial institutions and other card issuers scrambling to find alternative ways to boost fee income as traditional revenue streams tighten over time.

The Secure Remote Payment Council reached a watershed moment of sorts last month when it cosponsored a one-day symposium with the Federal Reserve Board of Chicago.

Pentagon Federal Credit Union, which has been cutting fees on its cards and mortgage programs over the past 12 months, has eliminated the foreign transaction fee from the remainder of the credit card programs in its card portfolio, it announced Oct. 3.

Maintaining a focus on its customer service, Discover Financial Serviceshas launched a television ad with its popular spokesperson “Peggy” appearing with ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, a former Ohio State University quarterback.

Fees this year will surpass interest as the payment card industry’s largest income component for the first time, representing 52.7% of total revenue, according to R.K. Hammer, a Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based consultancy.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s crackdown on spending announced last month after an audit revealed improper expenditures by city employees will result in a dramatic reduction in card payments and a shift back to paper-based processes that likely will be costlier and more time-consuming, observers say.

Many bank risk-management executives worry that credit card delinquency rates, which have been declining for more than two years, may begin to rise again soon if the economy does not improve, according to new FICO survey data.

Europe’s lingering debt crisis likely will cause some European banks to be wary of adhering to a pending deadline to accept euros as a common currency for electronic cross-border payments as part of the Single Euro Payments Area for eurozone countries, new research indicates.

As part of its overhaul plan for the assets it acquired of the United Arab Emirates subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland PLC, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Ltd. says it soon will start issuing new credit cards to former Royal Bank of Scotland cardholders.

U.S. credit card charge-offs would continue their downward trajectory even if the economy slips into another recession, according to a new report Moody’s Investors Service released Sept. 29.

Selling off a profitable card business and bank branches is painful. So is figuring out how to grow without them.

Cybercrooks may find hacking into the payment network of a small business relatively simple, but they can hit the mother lode if they find a way into a corporation’s bank account.

A federal court has blocked enforcement of a new rule affecting subprime credit card issuers that the Federal Reserve Board established as a result of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act.

A transit open-loop fare collection pilot in New Jersey that uses a Visa-branded prepaid debit card could help change the traditional notions about how to distribute a general-purpose reloadable product to financially underserved consumers, notes an industry observer.

Patients who may avoid paying medical bills because of confusion over what they owe and what the insurance company will pay may benefit from a new online payment tool.