Credit

SunTrust Banks Inc. says a system designed to make online purchases is also driving up the use of its online bill-pay service.

MoneyGram International Inc. has agreed to offer its payment services through the processor BillingTree Inc. under the brand PaynCash.

Discover Financial Services is continuing its push to ensure that future profitability is less dependent on plastic with its planned $600 million student loan acquisition.

New York lottery players could be losing more than just the price of a ticket on their weekly purchases.

First Data Corp.’s recently announced partnership with a South Korea-based technology company will help strengthen the transaction processor’s ability to support contactless payments in advance of Near Field Communication-enabled mobile payments, according to a First Data executive.

India’s ICICI Bank Ltd. has reached an agreement with Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. to launch a cobranded credit card, the Mumbai-based airline announced Sept. 15.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka is soliciting public comment on guidelines it has drafted for mobile-payment systems, an official from the bank tells PaymentsSource.The bank’s director of payments and settlements is accepting comments through Oct. 18, according to the official. “Our aim is to ensure safety and effectiveness of mobile-payment schemes,” he says. Under the draft guidelines, the central bank will allow mobile payments in Sri Lanka only through licensed banks, registered finance companies and custodian account-based systems operated by nonbank service providers. Banks and financial institutions would be allowed to offer mobile-payments services to their accountholders, which would allow customers to operate their accounts via their mobile phone. Under the custodian account-based system, mobile operators may open e-money accounts for customers and issue e-money in exchange for actual money from customers, according to the guidelines.The central bank would allow mobile-payment services to be conducted only in Sri Lanka rupees and only for domestic transactions, and providers must route all foreign inward remittances to mobile accounts through the custodian banks and credit them in rupees. The draft rules also would require mobile-payments providers to report any suspicious transactions based on the guidelines of the central bank’s Financial Intelligence Unit. The draft also requires providers to use security measures to prevent criminal activity while using Near Field Communication-based mobile-payment systems.

The Obama administration filed two trade cases Wednesday against China, covering electronic payments and steel duties, reports Bloomberg News.

MasterCard Inc. shares have surged this week after it announced a $1 billion stock buyback plan and said it expects profit to rise faster than some analysts have predicted, reports Bloomberg News.

The need to diversify a merchant portfolio with small and midsize merchants that typically afford better profit margins than large merchants likely drove Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC’s acquisition of National Processing Co., observers say.

With interest in mobile payments growing, First Data Corp. and South Korea-based SK C&C Co. Ltd. reportedly plan to collaborate to enable consumers in the United States, Canada and Mexico to use their mobile phones in place of physical wallets to initiate payment.

College Of The Holy Cross’ recently announced deal with a unit of Heartland Payments Systems Inc. not only will enable students to shop on or off campus using their school identification cards, but they also may use their cards to give back to the community through the processor’s Give Something Back program.

UMonitor’s financial-institution customers now may offer consumers person-to-person funds-transfer services to make payments via mobile phones or e-mail, the Web-based division of Memphis, Tenn.-based Parsam Technologies LLC reported on Sept. 14.

Regions Financial Corp. has agreed to use a merchant-funded rewards program from Cardlytics Inc. that sends consumers targeted offers through their banking websites.

After JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s website went down Wednesday for the second time this week, the company said it would refund late fees and help fix other outage-related problems for the 16.6 million online customers who were unable to access their accounts, reports Bloomberg News.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions, a joint venture between private-equity firm Advent and Fifth Third Bank, said Wednesday that it has agreed to buy National Processing.

Payment processor Global Payments Inc. will sell VeriFone Systems Inc.’s PayWare Mobile service in Canada, VeriFone announced Wednesday.

American Express Co. has launched a benefit that enables its cardholders to use Membership Rewards points to pay for all or part of their purchases on Amazon.com, the company announced Sept. 13.

Calpian Inc., a Dallas-based lender to independent sales organizations, is turning to the investor community to raise money so it can complete more deals.

Mobile operator du, the commercially branded name of the Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co., has launched an automated payment service to enable its postpaid customers to pay bills using their mobile phones, the Dubai-based company earlier this month.