Credit

Target Corp.’s growth rate for activating new private-label credit and debit cards quadrupled during the fourth quarter after the company’s October introduction of a 5% point-of-sale discount on purchases made with Target-branded cards, Target executives told analysts Feb. 24.

Fresh off of its Dec. 15 initial public offering, fleet card provider FleetCor Technologies Inc. on Feb. 23 reported net income of $17.5 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, down 30% from $25 million during the same period a year earlier. Total revenue rose 3.2%, to $106.5 million from $103.2 million.

NetSpend Holdings Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income grew 79% from a year earlier, to $6.3 million, as customers loaded more money onto its prepaid debit cards and spent more frequently.

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. said it expects first-quarter earnings to be below analysts' estimates.

The Central Bank of Kenya has established new regulations for the country’s mobile funds-transfer market designed to protect consumers and mitigate market risk, a spokesperson for the bank tells PaymentsSource.

Etisalat Group last week inked a strategic agreement to offer Western Union Co.’s Mobile Money Transfer service in the 18 countries where it the Dubai-based mobile operator operates.

The Asian Development Bank reportedly has asked Philippines President Benigno Aquino III to consider giving tax breaks to credit cardholders in the country to encourage more card use.

VeriFone Systems Inc.’s pending acquisition of rival terminal maker Hypercom Corp. moved a step closer Feb. 24 as Hypercom announced its shareholders had approved the companies’ merger agreement.

In 2012, London will become the first city where domestic and international consumers may access an entire transportation network using open-loop, network-branded contactless credit or debit cards, the Transport for London announced Feb. 24.

News that another credit union is adopting EMV payment card technology to reduce cardholder hassles when traveling abroad adds ballast to the theory that some U.S. payment sectors won’t wait for a mandate to voluntarily embrace the chip-and-PIN method.

In a move some observers say might represent the future of loyalty and mobile payments, loyalty marketer Maritz Real-Time and smart card technology firm Vivotech Inc. have formed a strategic partnership to provide immediate retail promotions to customer mobile phones equipped with Near Field Communication technology.

Consumers in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada soon may use their smartphone as a contactless payment device and mobile wallet using an application from Yespay International Ltd.

Integrating new card products into underserved, but financially viable, cultural groups takes more than just marketing campaigns translated into different languages or a flashy ad campaign using consumers from those communities. It takes trust, financial experts say.

Target Corp.’s credit card profits nearly quadrupled in the fiscal fourth quarter as the retailer wrote off fewer loans and socked away less to cover for future losses.

According to a Dow Jones report, top executives at Citi, the third-largest bank in the U.S. by assets, have long felt it was too technocratic, with a focus on products rather than service and selling. Manuel Medina-Mora, consumer chief for the Americas, pledged change, and in September hired Cecilia Stewart as head of retail and Jud Linville as head of cards to help design and implement a new strategy.

Hong Leong Bank Bhd. has launched a credit card in Malaysia that will enable cardholders to receive cash instead of reward points or just cash back on purchases, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based bank.

The Electronic Transactions Association’s payments professional certification program will debut by the end of the year, the trade group announced Feb. 22.

Though perhaps there is no greater rivalry than Thin Mints versus Samoas, two Girl Scout groups are taking sides in a different debate: which mobile card reader is best for cookie sales.

Square Inc.’s Feb. 22 announcement that it had dropped the 15-cent transaction fee for card-present transactions represents a return to a rate scheme the merchant-services company had last spring.

Banks are looking beyond consumers to Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc. to share the pain of lower interchange fees.