Credit

Banks that want to reel in retail customers who have gravitated to others' credit cards and card issuers eager to steal competitors' customers have a new weapon: technology from Mitek that lets customers transfer card balances by simply taking a picture of their credit card bill with their mobile device.

Cardlytics Inc., which provides a merchant-funded rewards program to banks and prepaid card companies, is on the verge of expanding outside the U.S. after receiving funding from a company that owns loyalty programs in Canada and the United Kingdom.

In an effort to make the technical aspects of credit card security compliance easier for its small-business customers, Century Payments Inc. will put Trustwave fraud-protection programs in place within three months, the company said Sept. 7.

Visa Europe is making more headway promoting its contactless card and mobile technology in France, as it launches a second contactless pilot in Strasbourg. Visa also has a contactless pilot operating in Nice, France, which launched in May 2010.

In an ongoing push to build its credit card operations through strategic cobranded card deals, Barclaycard US on Sept. 8 unveiled the Williams-Sonoma Signature Visa card, which the upscale kitchen-supply chain is promoting at its stores nationwide and on its website.

Citigroup Inc. has appointed several new people to the leadership team of its Citi Cards business.

Andrews FCU on Wednesday announced it is rolling out a Globe Trek Visa Rewards credit card with both magnetic strip and the Europay, MasterCard and Visa EMV technology, also known as Chip and PIN.

A recent renewal of a sports sponsorship deal may enable Visa Inc. to show to card issuers its “strength” against rival brands, but the actual benefits the deal provides Visa are “limited,” one analyst contends.

Dubai Bank Ltd. has created a service for its cardholders in the United Arab Emirates that enables them to pay off existing debts on other issuers’ cards in monthly installments, the Islamic bank announced Sept. 5.

VeriFone Systems Inc. continues to show positive quarterly results in terms of revenue and net income, and company executives expect the trend to continue as contactless mobile payments grow worldwide and EMV chip-and-PIN takes hold in the United States.

Amid a resurgence of interest in issuing private-label credit cards and noteworthy behavioral shifts affecting consumer creditworthiness, First Data Corp. is adopting a new instant-credit decisioning and underwriting system from Zoot Enterprises Inc., the two companies announced Sept. 7.

ACI Worldwide Inc. and Fundtech Ltd. are squaring off in a protracted and very public tug of war over a combination with S1 Corp., and the prize could go to either company.

Equifax Inc. has acquired Datum, a Costa Rican credit reporting company.

Following recommendations from India’s central bank urging the country’s financial institutions to issue chip cards, ICICI Bank Ltd. has begun to issue its first EMV-compliant credit card, the issuer announced Sept. 5.

Zions Bancorp., in its attempt to spot fraud, was gathering much more data than its technology could handle. While searching for a needle in a haystack, it was just piling on more hay.

Fewer than half of all cardholders have a private-label credit card, but those who do are more likely to routinely carry a balance on their various cards than are consumers who rely only on general-purpose cards, new data from Auriemma Consulting Group suggest.

A directive earlier this month from Visa Inc. designed to motivate merchants to support the EMV chip card standard for U.S. cards and payment terminals may spark a cottage industry in EMV training seminars and consulting.

Sovereign Bank will draw in part on marketing strategies that have succeeded abroad for parent company Banco Santander S.A. when it relaunches its branded credit card portfolio next year under its own roof, Eduardo Tobon, Santander's U.S. cards division head, tells PaymentsSource.

Electronic funds transfer networks such as First Data Corp.’s Star are hearing increased chatter from financial institutions about securing and authenticating purchases at point-of-sale retail locations and online.

Discover Financial Services has agreed to purchase $2.5 billion of private student loans from Citigroup Inc., as the lender continues diversifying beyond its main credit card business.