Credit

The new person-to-person payments company launched by three top banks may not be a PayPal-killer, but experts say the clearXchange venture is a clear threat to the dominant bank-focused payments services.

To capture part of a resurgence in corporate spending as the economy recovers from the recession, Citigroup Inc. on May 25 introduced the Citi Project card, a commercial card enabling organizations to isolate and control spending on specific projects.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has launched a dual-currency credit card for use in Singapore and China, the issuer announced May 23.

Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Wednesday announced the launch of clearXchange, a person-to-person payments service that will let their customers send money directly to each other using an email address or mobile phone number.

Pasadena, Calif.-based Wescom Central CU said May 25 its Wescom Resources Group has signed with PayPal to offer Person-to-Person payment services to credit unions.

Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. plan to debut a person-to-person payments service on Wednesday that lets customers send money to each other with an email address or mobile phone number, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

For the fourth time this year, Discover Financial Services is using social-media website Facebook to connect cardmembers with contests.

Visa Inc. has launched a travel-themed marketing campaign in the U.S. that includes national television ads, a new Facebook application enabling consumers to chronicle their vacations and a sweepstakes via Facebook in which one participant will receive a $100,000 “trip of a lifetime,” the card brand announced May 23.

Hoping to stimulate fresh interest in one of its relatively newer cobranded products, First National Bank of Omaha on May 24 unveiled enhancements to its Overstock.com MasterCard credit card introduced in September.

Thailand’s Ministry of Finance on May 12 announced its decision to launch a credit card financing initiative that is raising concerns among key players in the country’s banking industry.

RewardsNow Inc. is running a sweepstakes for end users of its online rewards system for banks and credit unions, the loyalty-marketing service provider announced May 23.

As consumers become more comfortable with such technologies as unlocking a car from inside the house to recording movies remotely they are becoming more interested in using mobile phones for payments, survey data from MasterCard Worldwide suggest.

Delay or customers will pay — from new deposit charges to merchant fees.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. has introduced a service that streamlines payroll data, credit card sales and credit card tip data for restaurateurs at the point of sale, the transaction processor announced May 23.

Square Inc. is expanding beyond mobile card acceptance with a new service that allows consumers to initiate payments through its application.

Bank skepticism of the Isis mobile payments joint venture was high when the wireless carriers leading the initiative announced its formation last fall, but Isis says it has calmed early suspicions and now is working closely with major banks and payments companies.

The average U.S. consumer credit card charge-off rate fell again in April, underscoring a noteworthy decoupling of the unemployment rate and the number of credit card accounts lenders deem uncollectible, Moody’s Investors Service said in a May 23 report.

Barclaycard and wireless-network operator Everything Everywhere Ltd. on May 19 officially launched the United Kingdom’s first contactless mobile-payment system, which uses a pay-as-you-go handset from Samsung Group. But its success could hinge on merchant acceptance of the technology continuing to grow.

Barclays Bank India Pvt. Ltd. has been unable to find a buyer for its credit card business, despite offering a heavy discount to potential buyers, an official with one of the banks Barclays approached tells PaymentsSource.

Three Pakistani men were charged with obtaining more than $500,000 in credit card loans they had no plans to repay in order to finance a scheme to sell contraband cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.