Credit

Efforts to streamline the various payment systems across Taiwan’s public transport operations may see progress as the country’s government pushes interoperability among locally issued smartcards.

Building on its growing momentum in contactless payments, Bank of Montreal is rolling out the Mobile PayPass Tag, a Near Field Communication-enabled sticker that consumers can attach to their mobile phones to make contactless payments in Canada, the bank announced Sept. 13.

LVNV Funding LLC, a Greenville, S.C.-based debt buyer, has settled a lawsuit in Maryland's federal court that involved the firm's license status in the state. The company agreed to erase an estimated $10 million in consumer debt for some 3,500 plaintiffs.

The online payment provider eLayaway Inc. said on Monday that it would join the Secure Vault Payments network and offer the service to its customers in the fourth quarter.

At least three of the nation’s largest credit card issuers, as a result of their strategic actions and market positioning, may eke out growth this year despite the sluggish economy, according to a new report from Keefe, Bruyette and Woods.

Conservative lender American Express Co. is trying more and more to look like a start-up.

Federal agents in Seattle nabbed the third suspect in two elaborate card-skimming schemes on Sept. 6, ending a crime spree that netted more than $500,000 in fraudulent transactions and affected hundreds of consumers in six western states.

The Reserve Bank of India on September 7 proposed several recommendations it says could form the basis for certain new customer-service practices it might require Indian banks to adopt that would affect credit cardholders.

The Indian government reportedly has approved plans to establish a single electronic-payments gateway to accommodate the processing of all state and central government services by the end of the fiscal year.

Having a smartphone equipped for mobile payments with multiple payment options could weaken the impact of card brands, according to a new report from Morningstar Inc.

A new bulletin from Visa indicates that it is increasingly concerned about point of sale terminals being adapted to steal card data over Bluetooth connections.

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.