Credit

Hearing the “click-click” of a train conductor punching small holes in paper tickets soon will become less apparent on the Long Island Rail Road when conductors begin using a smartphone device to accept card payments on the busy New York rail system.

The screen-card maker Dynamics Inc. is improving its production capabilities through the purchase of a 115,000 square-foot facility in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. closed some of their card customers' accounts this week, citing data breaches at unidentified retailers.

Citigroup Inc. has launched a mobile-rewards application with Best Buy Co. Inc. that enables its cardholders to redeem ThankYou rewards, Citi announced Aug. 18.

Cementing a connection that has helped to spawn a robust array of payment card options, Shell Oil Products US and Citigroup Inc. on Aug. 18 announced the renewal of their long-running credit card-issuing relationship as they prepare to roll out a new rewards program for their cobranded Shell MasterCard.

What's the secret to American Express Co.'s customer satisfaction success?

Credit card customers are the happiest they've been since the financial crisis, thanks in part to a government crackdown on the card industry.

A service that lets consumers make electronic payments to online merchants without disclosing their bank account details is expanding into more financial institutions through a deal with the online banking software vendor Jwaala.

During a downturn, consumers are much more likely to use–and to repay–general-purpose credit cards than retail cards, and pretty much every major retail issuer tried to bail out of the business at some point over the last few years.

VantageScore Solutions LLC, a joint venture of the three credit rating agencies, has prevailed against Fair Isaac Corp. in a lawsuit that alleged antitrust, trademark infringement and false advertising.

It made headlines in Europe, but this week’s announcement that three major telecommunication companies in Germany have joined forces to bypass supporting banks in handling Mpass mobile-payment transactions is a concept not likely to quickly take hold in other countries, one industry observer says.

Interest in Target Corp.’s credit card receivables has “met or exceeded” expectations, and a sale could occur by early next year, Doug Scovanner, Target chief financial officer, said during an Aug. 17 conference call with analysts to discuss fiscal second-quarter earnings.

Eager to exploit new growth opportunities in a sluggish economy, certain payments-industry technology suppliers already are positioning themselves to capitalize on opportunities Visa Inc.’s U.S. EMV chip card initiative may trigger as participants upgrade systems and equipment, observers say.

The recent turmoil in the financial markets has not yet altered banks’ immediate technology spending plans, Jack Henry & Associates Inc.’s top executive says.

Standard Bank Ltd. in South Africa is slashing the minimum monthly repayment rate across all its credit cards to help customers manage their expenses more efficiently, the issuer announced August 11.

After marching downward for more than a year, the average charge-off rate for U.S. consumer credit cards may show an increase for July because two issuers have reported one-time spikes in card-account defaults, a Moody’s Investors Service analyst tells PaymentsSource.

Barclaycard US is introducing the Barclaycard Rewards Boost program for its more than 3 million credit cardholders, the U.S. payments division of Barclays PLC announced Aug. 16.

Credit card delinquencies fell to their lowest point in 17 years in the second quarter as consumers remained cautious about taking on more debt and issuers continued their conservative approach to lending, TransUnion Corp. said Aug. 16.

Isis, the telecommunication consortium intent on offering a mobile-payment scheme, is building out a wider range of mobile-wallet capabilities to keep up with its aggressive rival, Google Inc.

Bank of America Corp.’s deal on Aug. 15 to its sell its unwanted Canadian card assets is the latest example of how smaller acquisitions are fueling a slow revival in the credit card portfolio sales market.