Credit

One of the most significant challenges to widespread adoption of Near Field Communication-enabled mobile payments has been determining how the card brands, issuers, mobile operators and handset manufacturers will divvy up transaction revenues.

To help distribute its Serve digital payment and wallet service, American Express Co. on Aug. 1 announced a deal in which Verizon Wireless will integrate the platform into many of its mobile phones and tablets.

Discover Financial Services’ strategy to diversify beyond credit cards suffered a setback as the lender’s deal to buy $1.1 billion in banking deposits from Allstate Corp. has fallen through.

State Bank of India Ltd. on July 28 became the first card issuer in the country to announce plans to convert its entire portfolio of magnetic stripe credit cards to EMV chip-and-PIN formats.

Credit cardholders made at least $72 billion more in payments on their credit card accounts than they spent on purchases using their cards between the first quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010, underscoring the dramatic effect the recession had on consumer behavior, a new study from TransUnion suggests.

Visa Inc. is overhauling its pricing to spur merchants to route transactions its way and defend a dominant share of the U.S. debit card market, a position endangered by new regulations.

Record second-quarter highs in processing sales volume and net revenue have Heartland Payment Systems Inc. executives singing the praises of a retooled sales force and diligence in monitoring expenses.

Helped by strong growth in purchase volume outside the U.S., Visa Inc. on July 27 reported healthy across-the-board fiscal third quarter transaction growth.

U.S. consumer bankcard delinquencies hit a record low in June, while charge-off rates also improved again, according to data Moody’s Investors Service released July 28.

American Express Co. has nabbed a former Google Inc. executive to run a joint venture with French e-commerce website vente-privee.com.

Hacking suspects may blame their arrests on having picked the wrong target.

Visa Inc.’s fiscal third-quarter net income rose 40.4% from a year earlier due partly to a gain it recognized from the revaluation of a deal with Visa Europe.

The finalization of new debit card regulations likely will provide a tailwind to bank technology spending later this year, according to the top executive of vendor Fiserv Inc.

Targeting the fast-growing affluent market in the United Arab Emirates, Emirates NBD has launched a premium Titanium credit card that comes with a host of lifestyle benefits, including airport lounge access and golf privileges, plus higher reward points on retail purchases, the issuer announced July 26.

Aided by relatively strong performance from its EFT Processing segment, transaction processor Euronet Worldwide Inc. reported favorable second-quarter revenue and profitability.

Flush with cash and the prospect of stronger revenue growth for the rest of the year, Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, is eyeing potential acquisitions that would diversify its operations beyond its core credit card processing business.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Ink card portfolio has helped businesses simplify their expense management through various upgrades and enhancements, which may translate into more users of the issuer’s consumer cards as well, one observer suggests.

Shares in S1 Corp. traded higher when the markets opened this morning as Israel-based Fundtech Ltd. reminded investors that its agreement to merge with S1 Corp. has not been finalized yet and could fall prey to yesterday’s higher offer by ACI Worldwide to acquire S1.

India’s credit card market is seeing a surge in card spending even as the number of cards in circulation declines, suggesting issuers’ strategy to target premium customers and shed risky ones is working.

ZestCash Inc. says it's the Google of alternative lending, based on the way it calculates underwriting for loans to risky borrowers; its rival BillFloat says it's the Facebook of alternative lending, because it knows its customers.