Credit

U.S. consumers’ average credit score last month dropped two points to 667 from a year earlier, as average credit card debt fell by 9% to $7,200 during the same period, according to data Credit Karma released Feb. 10.

Vendors often tout their products in press releases and through other efforts seeking publicity. But sometimes they choose to keep things relatively low key.

Tobias Boyland, former owner of several Buffalo, N.Y. area collection agencies, is being sought by U.S. Marshals after he failed to surrender to start a 15-year prison sentence.

This story was updated with more information on Feb. 11.

Positive fourth-quarter results bode well for Wright Express Corp., whose chief executive tells PaymentsSource the fleet card provider and issuer intends to carry the momentum into the new year.

More community colleges are beginning to adopt campus cards tied to prepaid accounts, as demonstrated by CardSmith LLC’s Feb. 7 announced deal in which it will support Southwestern Oregon Community College’s new card program.

Banks typically pitch personal financial management tools as a way to analyze past spending. A new approach flips that around to help consumers control future spending.

ATMs, long a valuable resource for cardholders wanting ready access to cash, have become a growing target for crooks who like them for similar reasons, according to a researcher from ACI Worldwide.

The bank unit of Cabela's Inc., an outdoors merchandiser, has renewed a credit card processing agreement with the Atlanta payments company First Data Corp.

Visa Inc. is furthering its e-commerce strategy by buying a payment platform for online games.

Visa Inc. no longer will require merchants outside the U.S. to annually validate their compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard if three-fourths of their transactions comply with the EMV chip-and-PIN standard, the network announced Feb. 9.

China’s credit card industry recorded its first pretax profit of $251 million in 2010, and profits could reach $1.8 billion by the end of 2015, emphasizing China’s potential for future card-market growth, new research suggests.

For the fourth consecutive quarter, TransUnion’s Credit Risk Index declined, indicating consumers were less of a credit risk in 2010 compared with the previous year, the Chicago-based credit bureau reports.

U.S. Bancorp’s Elavon Inc. merchant-processing unit has Class B-certified Hypercom Corp.’s SPOS32 EMV payment software on Hypercom’s T4200 and M4200 payment devices in Canada, the Phoenix-based terminal maker announced Feb. 9.

Visa Inc. is paying $190 million in cash to buy PlaySpan Inc., a private company that provides e-commerce services to developers of online games and smartphone applications, the card brand and network announced Feb. 9.

Woori Bank Ltd. soon plans to sell a 20% share of BC Card Co. Ltd. to KT Corp., the South Korean bank announced Feb. 8

Lakshmi Vilas Bank Pvt. bank has become the 10th bank in India to launch the Internet Mobile Payment Service in India, a spokesperson for the Karur-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Discover Financial Services is buying about $1.1 billion in deposits from the retail banking arm of insurer Allstate Corp., the Riverwoods, Ill., company said Tuesday.

The recession has caused consumers to change how they mentally account for money, including how they use credit cards, Susan Menke, vice president and behavioral economist at Mintel Comperemedia, noted during a Jan. 28 Web seminar on consumer spending trends.

Merchants using direct marketing services from Marketing Architects Inc. will be able to determine faster whether a consumer’s payment card is valid through a new authorization service the company is using from VeriFi Inc.