Credit

Regions Financial Corp. may not be the only bank planning to buy back its credit card portfolio now that the worst of the recession’s damage is receding, according to one expert who tracks credit card portfolio sales.

The twin effects of lenders keeping a tight rein on credit card lines and consumers borrowing less with cards in April drove the average card-account default rate down to levels not seen since February 2009, according data Fitch Ratings released June 10.

U.S. Bancorp plans to begin issuing EMV chip credit cards that also include a tap-and-go payment function to its customers this month.

NEW ORLEANS–Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will begin rolling out automated MoneyCenters next week.

Mirroring the growing chatter about the possibility of U.S. card issuers one day adopting EMV chip-and-PIN technology, panel discussions related to the topic were well attended during the Smart Card Alliance’s annual conference in May.

NEW ORLEANS–For all talk about how mobile technology can rapidly bring financial services to emerging markets, it has really only worked in a few countries so far, most notably Kenya and the Philippines. Much of mobile money’s success in Kenya can be attributed to the work of Michael Joseph, a strategic advisor to Safaricom, who discussed here on June 7 his experiences building a new financial infrastructure in that country.

U.S. Bancorp plans to begin issuing EMV chip credit cards that also include a tap-and-go payment function to U.S. customers this month.

Verification using India’s national biometric-identification system could provide a second level of authorization needed to secure card-present transactions initiated with magnetic stripe cards under a proposal outlined in a central bank working group report released June 2. It also may serve as an alternative to moving to EMV chip-and-PIN cards.

Following a trend in which growing numbers of card companies are targeting the good-credit standing of affluent consumers with travel rewards cards, JPMorgan Chase & Co. on June 9 launched a luxury cobranded credit card with Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. LLC, the first card of its kind for the hotel company.

Visa Inc.’s acquisition of Fundamo will help it use mobile payments to serve more underbanked consumers abroad, according to the card network, which on June 9 announced a deal in which is will pay about $110 million for the Cape Town, South Africa-based mobile payments company.

The chances that Citigroup Inc.’s credit cardholders will experience card fraud stemming from a recent online data breach are low, but those customers are likely to be the target of phishing scams.

American Express Co. has appointed online marketing veteran Josh Silverman president of its U.S. consumer services business, overseeing consumer cards and travel services, the company announced June 9.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc.’s shares rose as much as 9% in early trading June 9 after an analyst upgraded the payment processor’s stock on the expectation that it will benefit from the pending caps on debit interchange.

WASHINGTON — Although banks failed in their attempt to convince Congress to delay an interchange fee cap for debit cards, the financial services industry is not giving up, just changing venues.

Think Computer Corp. has added a contactless-payment capability to its FaceCash mobile wallet.

NEW ORLEANS–One of the prevailing themes of this year’s Mobile Banking Summit is there is nothing inherently wrong with plastic cards: A number of speakers, panelists and attendees with a major stake in mobile payments all acknowledge that physical cards work well, posing a steep hill to climb to get consumers to use their phones to make payments.

The top South Korean financial regulator plans to restrict credit card issuance and curtail issuers’ marketing budgets to combat growing household debt in that country.

Consumers now may use China UnionPay-branded credit cards in Brazil under an agreement the card organization reached late last year with Brazil-based Itaú Unibanco S.A. that took effect in late May.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Ltd. last week announced a free mobile-payment service that will enable its customers to make small-ticket purchases at merchant locations within the United Arab Emirates.

WASHINGTON — In a nail-biting conclusion after weeks of fierce lobbying by bankers and retailers, the Senate defeated a bill Wednesday that would have delayed the Federal Reserve Board's proposal to cap interchange fees for debit cards.