Credit

PKO Bank Polski S.A., Poland’s largest bank, has selected Gemalto NV as its partner in converting its entire consumer debit card portfolio from magnetic-stripe to contactless chip-and-PIN technology, the two companies announced Dec. 1.

The Dutch Central Bank has granted international payments provider GlobalCollect a Payment Services Directive license, making the company a certified payment institute, Amsterdam-based GlobalCollect reported on Nov. 29.

Serverside Group Ltd. on Nov. 30 announced a settlement in a patent-infringement lawsuit Quark Images LLC brought earlier this year against the maker of payment card-customization systems and several of its financial-services customers.

Transaction processor First Data Corp. and online-payment service PayPal Inc. are reporting double-digit increases in consumer Black Friday spending this year compared with the same day in 2009, with First Data saying same-store sales returned to prerecession levels.

American Express Co. has struck a deal with social-game developer Zynga Inc. to enable AmEx cardholders to redeem Membership Rewards points for virtual goods, the card brand announced Nov. 30.

Roam Data is making available a Roampay Swipe card reader that plugs into the audio jack of BlackBerry smartphones, the Boston-based firm announced Nov. 30.

Another longtime assumption related to consumers and their finances is being turned on its head.

Eight million more U.S. cardholders have shelved their bank-issued credit cards, bringing to 40% the percentage of creditworthy, credit-active consumers who did not use their bankcards within the past 12 months, according to new data TransUnion released Nov. 29.

Corporations may gain more control over their working capital and speed the migration of business-to-business payments from checks to electronic payment channels through the use of two separate commercial card services Citigroup Inc. and American Express Co. recently launched, observers say.

Taiyuan Xinbao Parking Meter System Co. Ltd. plans to extend the deployment of contactless smart card technology from Legic Identsystems Ltd. to its parking-meter operations in China, the Germany-based technology provider announced earlier this month.

While most bank mobile apps are focused initially on iPhones, then move to Blackberry and Android in subsequent rollouts, it would appear that Android and iPhone are the way to go as BlackBerry falls behind its two rivals in sales.

A consumer group in Australia is criticizing Qantas Airways Ltd.'s plan to raise the card surcharge it imposes on purchases of international flights.

Discover Financial Services has begun to distribute credit cards and stickers that support its Zip contactless-payment service, the company announced Nov. 29.

Visa Inc. has announced a deal to promote e-commerce around the world in time for holiday shopping.

Visa Inc. is fattening its online shopping wallet, Rightcliq.

U.S. consumers’ credit scores dipped slightly during the recession and the total number of credit card accounts per household declined, but average credit scores remain well within the prime range, according to new data from Experian PLC.

Banks in India will be verifying applicants for Visa-branded payment cards using the Unique Identification Authority of India’s Aadhaar citizen identification-number scheme, a top official from the government authority tells PaymentsSource.

Banks in Malaysia are testing various promotions to win back credit card customers after an annual credit card tax introduced early this year sparked a sharp decline in the nation’s total credit card accounts.

American Express Co.’s recent announcement of a partnership with Walldorf, Germany-based business-software provider SAP could play a key role in the company’s efforts to expand its market share in routine commercial card and business-to-business payments, Andrew Jamison, vice president of B2B product development for AmEx’s Global Commercial Card unit, tells PaymentsSource.

Bundle Corp. is catering to a different appetite with its newest personal financial management tool: restaurant ratings.