Credit

JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Oct. 13 reported third quarter increases in both net income and sales volume for its Card Services unit, aided by continued reductions in charge-offs and delinquencies and by a rise in consumer card use.

U.S. consumers’ average credit scores fell two points during the third quarter ended Sept. 30, while the decline was sharper in certain regions in the South, according to new data Credit Karma released Oct. 13.

Bank card delinquencies fell 26 basis points to 3.62% of all accounts, the lowest mark since the first quarter of 2001 and far below the 15-year average of 3.93%, according to a report released last week by the American Bankers Association.

Cubic Corp. has launched an updated application that enables consumers in one German city to purchase public-transportation tickets using Apple Inc. iPhones, which display purchased tickets as barcodes scanned at turnstiles for entry, the transportation ticketing company announced Oct. 6.

Global Payments Inc. announced on Oct. 11 a major delay in upgrading U.S. merchants to a new authorization system.

Merchant acquirers once again will be able to offer merchants dynamic currency conversion on Visa Inc.’s network now that the card brand has ended a six-month moratorium on expanded use of such services.

Merchants wanting to integrate their transaction data into other business-management software have a new option.

In a ruling that will affect hundreds of credit unions, a federal judge agreed Friday to dismiss a suit by MShift claiming that Intuit Financial Services, formerly Digital Insight Corp., is infringing on its patent for mobile banking.

Fiserv Inc. is breaking down the barriers for small merchants to present statements within online banking sites, a service more commonly limited to high-volume billers.

VeriFone Systems Inc. said it is pressing ahead with its hostile takeover bid for Hypercom Corp., despite Hypercom's increasingly vocal rejection.

Point-of-sale terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. says it will continue to try to buy Hypercom Corp., its Scottsdale, Ariz.-based rival, even though VeriFone’s $5.25 per share offer is more than a $1 shy of the $6.40 price of Hypercom shares Friday morning.

Merchants accepting payments via mobile phones experienced the highest card-not-present fraud volume in 2009, facing on average 3,385 attempts to commit fraudulent transactions each month, new research shows, suggesting the need for higher security as more merchants accept mobile payments.

A global relief organization and a local mobile-phone provider in Haiti recently completed a test of its Mobile Money funds-transfer project in which Haitians affected by the Jan. 12 earthquake used mobile phones to receive payment for work and to make purchases at a local grocery store.

East Japan Railway Co. during the first half of next year plans to offer a mobile fare-payment service for its network supported by mobile network carrier KDDI Corp.

Usage of mobile person-to-person payment services in Africa is expected to explode in the next five years, according to a new research report.

Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc., Beall's Inc. and Luby's Inc. have renewed multi-year card processing agreements with Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC, the Cincinnati company said Wednesday.

An old payment system may look new again, if Deluxe Corp.'s ad campaign around checks captures consumers' imaginations.

Hypercom Corp. has withdrawn its lawsuit filed Sept. 23 against VeriFone Systems Inc. over allegations of violating a confidentiality agreement. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based terminal maker announced the withdrawal virtually seconds after PaymentsSource reported the lawsuit in a bulletin (see story).

Consumers in the United States generally believe their credit card companies treat them fairly but anticipate some changes under the Credit CARD Act affecting their overall card usage, new research from New York-based management-consulting firm Auriemma Consulting Group suggests. Auriemma conducted the research through an online survey in August.

Trustwave, best known for testing and fixing payment-network vulnerabilities, believes the time is right to also offer a physical security-evaluation service.