Credit

PHOENIX–Credit and debit card fraud leads all other types of fraud at most U.S. banks and credit unions, but most institutions are fighting illegal account access with constrained budgets and relatively small teams averaging one to five workers, regardless of institution size, new survey data from ISMG Corp.’s BankInfoSecurity.com suggest.

Many consumers still are not familiar with the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act and believe it has not had any effect on them, new research suggests.

Aptys Solutions has enhanced the automated clearinghouse functionality of its PayLogics processing platform by adding its Active Archive service, the company reported March 7.

Secure Vault Payments, NACHA’s alternative payment system that enables consumers to make online purchases directly from their bank accounts, may gain new prominence from a test it is running with a sizeable client.

Nearly half of consumers around the world are concerned about card fraud, yet many fail to take precautions to prevent it, suggesting banks should do more to educate consumers to reduce their susceptibility to fraud, recently released survey data show.

MUMBAI, INDIA–A company that enables India’s banking customers to conduct instant interbank mobile funds transfers is planning to extend the service to enable them to also pay for purchases at merchant locations, the firm’s chief executive told PaymentsSource here March 3 at a technology summit organized by the Indian Banks’ Association.

AT&T Inc. has added WorldPay US Inc. as a processor for the mobile-merchant payment initiative the telecommunication company launched last year, according to an entry posted March 1 on WorldPay’s blog.

Tee-On Golf System Inc.’s announced partnership earlier this week with Yespay International Ltd. will enable Canadian golf courses using Tee-On’s tee-time booking software to accept EMV chip-and-PIN payment cards, according to London-based Yespay.

Discover Financial Services ranks first in credit card satisfaction, home page satisfaction, ease of applying for cards online, and design and organization, according to a Keynote Competitive Research study on card-marketing websites.

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., which buys defaulted consumer debt from credit card issuers and other lenders, on March 3 reported total revenue of $47.5 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 154% from $18.7 million a year earlier. The company’s net loss dropped 65.3%, to 7 million from $20.2 million.

Despite naming its product Virtual Wallet, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has decided that its Web-centric bank account should be firmly grounded in the real world.

Hoping to increase overall loyalty, PNC Bank NA, a member of The PNC Financial Services Group Inc., is adding new credit cards to its portfolio whose rewards are based on the consumer’s relationship with the bank, the Pittsburgh-based issuer announced March 1.

Western Union Co. has introduced a mobile Web version of its foreign-exchange payment service that enables small and midsize businesses with international ties to conduct transactions using smartphones, the company announced March 2.

ATM independent sales organizations are worried about declining interchange rates, rising costs and pending legislation, but the majority are still looking to expand their businesses within the next year, the results of a recent survey suggest.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. said Wednesday that it will offer its commercial card customers a spending control service from MasterCard Inc., the banking company said Wednesday.

KB Financial Group has spun off its KB Kookmin Card credit card unit to help boost the program’s card base and to develop more financial products, a spokesperson for the South Korea-based company tells PaymentsSource.

WASHINGTON—An effort to delay proposed debit-interchange rules continued to build momentum March 2 as bankers and lawmakers called for a more effective exemption for small financial institutions.

Merchants’ security concerns are driving the development and sales of new payment hardware at VeriFone Systems Inc., the top executive at the payment-terminal maker told analysts during a March 1 conference call to discuss fiscal first quarter earnings.

As it looks to generate more revenue and to enable issuers of its cards to better analyze their customers’ transactions, MasterCard Worldwide is exploring ways to secure more volume for its processing switch from cards carrying the network’s brand, especially outside the U.S., Chris McWilton, MasterCard president of U.S. Markets, said during a March 1 presentation.

With fewer credit cards in their wallets after the recession, U.S. consumers are tapping more of the total credit lines available on the cards they do have while racking up less overall debt than they were a year ago, according to data Experian released March 2.