Credit

The PCI Security Standards Council is seeking to broaden the scope of industry participation as it empanels its third set of new advisory board members since the initial board convened in 2007.

Visa Inc. said Thursday that it had shed seven members from its board of directors.

Verizon Wireless is working with two mobile payment companies to allow its customers to charge digital content purchases to phone bills.

Rural banks in the Philippines this month are gaining access to a credit bureau that already assists commercial banks in the country in their credit card issuing, according to the Credit Bureau Inc., a nonprofit organization formed by the Bankers Association of Philippines.

TMG Financial Services said it experienced credit card portfolio growth last year, both organically and through portfolio purchases.

With buying power increasing for many cultural groups in the United States, card companies expectedly would be looking for ways to get their products into the hands of those consumers, many of whom are of Hispanic, African or Asian descent.

Barclaycard and wireless-network operator Everything Everywhere Ltd. this summer plan to launch the United Kingdom’s first contactless mobile-payment system, the companies announced Jan. 27.

For the second consecutive year, North American online merchants improved their fraud-management performance, demonstrating they can counter crooks’ efforts when using appropriate fraud-prevention systems, new research suggests.

Discover Financial Services is offering cardholders 5% cash back on up to $800 in travel and restaurant purchases from January until March 31, the company announced Jan. 26.

American Express Co. is awaiting a patent for its Diverse Marketplace Intelligence analytical system that it designed to help identify and target cultural groups for marketing opportunities.

Mobile banking in rural India received a huge push this month with the country’s two biggest banks signing agreements with the two largest mobile-network operators in India for the launch of mobile platforms designed to bring banking services to more consumers.

A panel within the Reserve Bank of India formed in April has released recommendations for fighting ATM, POS and online fraud.

The percentage of outstanding balances that credit cardholders pay off each month surged last year — a favorable sign for loan performance that mirrored plummeting chargeoffs but that now stands as an obstacle to portfolio growth.

RoyalBank has added Compass Plus’ TranzWare service to support the launch of an in-house transaction-processing center at the bank, the retail banking software provider announced Jan. 25.

Visa Inc. has launched a card program in Latin America that offers luxury hotel deals and other perks designed for affluent consumers, the company announced Jan. 21.

Both Ford Motor Credit Co. and HSBC Holdings PLC last week announced job cuts related to collections work.

A fresh round of Apple Inc. rumors indicates the technology giant will include Near Field Communication in the next versions of its iPhone and iPad. And while the technology continues to stay atop the leaderboard as the payments industry’s ideal mobile-payments method, at least one observer believes barcode technology ultimately will prevail.

Consumers are starting to spend again, which is helping Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, grow its payment card processing services after a tough year during which it lost several clients.

WEST DOVER, VT.–Their silence on the Federal Reserve Board’s proposal to regulate debit card interchange rates could be counterproductive for independent sales organizations and merchant acquirers, Holli Targan, president of the Electronic Transactions Association, told attendees here at the Northeast Acquirers Association conference.

MasterCard Worldwide and Spanish telecommunication company Telefonica SA are starting a joint venture to develop mobile payments services in 12 Latin American countries, the companies announced Jan. 25.