Credit

Boosted by a massive reduction in loan-loss reserves, Bank of America Corp.’s global cards unit produced second-quarter net income of $2 billion, up 142% from $826 million a year earlier, the company announced July 19.

American Express Co. wants to get closer to its legion of 2 million friends on Facebook.

Citigroup Inc. plans to issue chip-based credit cards that adhere to the EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications later this year.

Union Bank of India Ltd. has signed an agreement with electronic payment services provider ElectraCard Services Pvt. Ltd. to set up an online payment gateway to help strengthen its presence in electronic payments.

Continuing efforts to get its Serve digital wallet into consumers’ hands, American Express Co. has signed a deal with Sprint Nextel to put the payments application on the Sprint Zone website, where Sprint customers go to manage their mobile-phone accounts, Amex announced July 18.

Trying a new approach to prod consumer interest in contactless payment, U.S. Bancorp is testing a wrist gadget that combines tap-and-pay technology with an emergency medical notification device, the bank announced July 18.

The final parameters of an antitrust settlement submitted to a federal court in New York Friday by the Department of Justice promises to give merchants and cardholders more choices when paying for goods and services by preventing Visa and MasterCard from enforcing anti-steering bylaws.

Still on the fence about EMV? High uptake from an early adopter, the United Nations Federal Credit Union, is allowing it to expand the card's availability, and provides evidence U.S. cardholders really like to use chip and PIN cards when traveling overseas.

Until last month, there was little that was actually rewarding about the redemption process for JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Amazon.com rewards credit card.

Citicorp’s net credit losses dropped 27% to $2.2 billion during the second quarter, driven by Citi-branded cards in North America, John Gerspach, Citi chief financial officer, told analysts during a July 15 conference to discuss the quarter’s earnings.

Responding to consumer demand for multiple alternative online-payment options, Retail Decisions Ltd. has added six payment types to its fraud-prevention and payment-processing offerings, the company announced July 7.

Supporting acceptance of electronic payments at large, international sporting events promotes higher transaction volumes among tourists for the countries that host them even after the events are over, according to a recent tourism impact report from Visa Inc.

Acknowledging the growing movement toward EMV chip-and-PIN technology in the U.S., most card-security professionals believe banks eventually will move away from issuing magnetic stripe cards, albeit slowly, a new survey report suggests.

Years after social networking sites became mainstream, banks are still trying to figure out the best ways to use them – and in particular, how to manage the risk and compliance issues connected to sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

Powered by an influx of credit card customers who are continuing to use their cards for routine spending while paying off their outstanding balances at a higher rate, JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Card Services unit on July 14 reported a strong increase in second quarter profits and spending volume.

Investors are listening closely to reports of a possible initial public offering of stock later this year by Vantiv LLC, one of the nation’s largest card processors.

Consumer credit card debt fell by 10% during the first half of the year and by 17% from a year earlier, totaling $6,472 in June, according to data Credit Karma released July 13. The average credit score has remained steady at 667, down just two points from 665 in June 2010.

Ratcheting up the competition for wealthy, low-risk customers in India, HDFC Bank Ltd. on July 12 launched an ultra-premium credit card designed for the super rich.

Issuers seeing the first signs of growth in consumer credit card borrowing in nearly three years might be hoping the long drought is over, but it is too soon to celebrate, analysts say.

Signaling plans to stick with its strategy of diversifying beyond its core general-purpose credit card operations, Capital One Financial Corp. on July 13 said its second-quarter purchase volume rose and its charge-off rate fell, partly as a result of its acquisition of the Kohl’s Corp. private-label credit card operation.