Credit

VeriFone Systems Inc. is taking off its gloves in the battle for mobile payment acceptance, claiming rival Square Inc.'s device can be adapted to use for fraud.

Regions Financial Corp. has updated its mobile banking capabilities to enable customers to transfer funds among internal accounts, pay bills and receive text alerts about balances and other details.

PHOENIX–Consumer preferences for paying by credit or debit card typically are too deeply entrenched for merchants and banks to succeed easily in steering customers to one or the other option for financial reasons, one banking industry analyst contends.

A federal judge has dismissed a shareholder class-action lawsuit brought against VeriFone Systems Inc. following a restatement of three quarters from its 2007 fiscal year caused by accounting errors, VeriFone announced March 9.

Hoping to appeal to small merchants looking for a means to process payment card transactions through mobile devices, Impact PaySystem LLC has begun offering a card-swipe device from iPhoneSwiper, initially for free, the companies announced March 5.

Executives at Global Cash Access Holdings Inc. are seeing positive signs ahead, particularly in international markets, but revenue continued to decline in the fourth quarter of 2010.

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of Senators is planning to introduce a bill as soon as next week that would delay implementation of the controversial Federal Reserve rule to cap fees on debit transactions for two years while the Fed studies the issue.

WASHINGTON – Big Box retailers Target, Wal-Mart, SuperValu and Costco are urging the Federal Reserve to proceed with its bid to curb debit fees, insisting they will pass on billions of dollars in reduced charges to consumers.

WASHINGTON — World's Foremost Bank, a $2.9 billion-asset institution in Sidney, Neb., will pay fines of more than $10 million to settle allegations of unfair and deceptive practices, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday.

Visa Inc. soon will display its advertising through social networking software designed by Skype Inc. and Meebo Inc. for desktop computers and smartphones.

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service is warning of a crisis, similar to the one that rattled the country in 2003, from the growing competition in the country’s credit card market.

The banking industry’s fraud-protection initiatives are having an effect in the United Kingdom, as fraud losses related to payment cards, checks and online banking decreased last year, according to recent research by the UK Payments Council.

Consumers shed $4.2 billion in credit card debt in January, erasing the previous month’s uptick that likely was caused by relatively robust holiday credit card spending, according to data the Federal Reserve Board released March 7.

Customers of Singapore Airlines Ltd. now may pay for their flights using their PayPal Inc. accounts, according to the Singapore-based airline.

Some 92 incidents of crooks cloning debit and credit cards issued by Citibank Pvt. Ltd. occurred between January 2008 to December 2010, tops among India’s card issuers, the country’s finance minister told the country’s Parliament on Mar. 4.

Citizens in the Indian state of Punjab may pay their electricity bills online using bankcards under a new service the Punjab State Power Corp. launched on March 1.

WASHINGTON — Acting Comptroller of the Currency John Walsh warned Tuesday that a Federal Reserve Board proposal to limit debit interchange fees could hurt banks of all sizes.

MasterCard Inc. on March 8 announced new fraud-fighting technology that could alleviate the headaches issuing banks face when card accounts have been compromised.

CashEdge Inc. has landed Huntington National Bank as a customer for its person-to-person payments software, the New York-based vendor announced March 7.

American Express Co. cardholders that attend the South by Southwest Interactive music festival in Austin, Texas, later this week will be able to secure merchant discounts with their cards through Foursquare Labs Inc., the location-based mobile system that rewards consumers for using its service. Media reports say the two companies are piloting the system with 60 merchants at the festival and are offering a “spend $5, save $5” promotion.