Credit

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.

Citigroup Inc. has upgraded its WorldLink Payment Services technology to allow faster settlement of payments made in China’s currency, the renminbi, the New York-based banking company announced Jan. 25.

Despite consumer interest in alternative online payment products, credit cards still dominate the online-payments space. And they likely will continue to do so until merchants promote a broader array of alternative payment methods, according to Javelin Strategy and Research.

More than a year after it snapped back from the financial crisis, American Express Co. is ramping up investments for growth.

Visa Europe and Wireless Dynamics Inc. are teaming up to offer a mobile contactless-payment service for Apple Inc. iPhone users in the United Kingdom, the card association announced Jan. 25.

U.S. states with the greatest amount of outstanding consumer credit card debt roughly parallel those with the most population, but a few states buck that trend, according to new data Equifax Inc. released Jan. 24.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore has set up a wholly owned subsidiary, Assurity Trusted Solutions Pte. Ltd., to lead its initiative to increase the security of online transactions in Singapore, the organization announced Jan. 20.

MasterCard Inc. confirmed that it is hiring Mung-Ki Woo as group executive for its mobile business.