Credit

The average charge-off rate on U.S. consumer credit cards in July fell to a 16-month low, while delinquency rates also were better as credit card-portfolio health continued to improve, Fitch Ratings reported Sept. 1.

India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. announced on Aug. 30 the launch of a credit card designed for the Non-Resident Indian segment, which includes Indian citizens who have migrated to another country, are of Indian origin but born outside India, or are of Indian origin but reside permanently outside India.

POSBank has launched a payment card that incorporates both debit and credit card functions, according to the Singapore-based bank.

Barclaycard US on Sept. 1 announced the launch of the NFL Extra Points Visa cobranded credit card bearing the logo of any of the National Football League’s 32 teams.

More than 70 vending locations operated by Washington Vending are using Apriva’s cashless-vending services in the Washington, D.C., area, Apriva says.

TransFirst, a Hauppauge, N.Y.-based independent sales organization, has expanded a referral agreement with New York Community Bancorp Inc. to include the bank’s recent acquisitions of Cleveland-based AmTrust Bank and Phoenix-based Desert Hills Bank, and to offer more services, TransFirst says.

The average credit card borrower debt during the second quarter ended June 30 dropped for the fifth consecutive quarter, to $4,951, down 4.1% from $5,165 the previous quarter, according to a TransUnion analysis of credit card trends. Each quarter TransUnion looks more than 200 variables in consumes credit report; many involve credit card stats like 60,90, 120 days past due, percentage of active credit cards, new trade lines that are new credit card accounts and average balance of new credit cards.

To boost its mobile-payment strategy, VeriFone Systems Inc. announced Wednesday it has acquired the assets of Way Systems Inc., a point-of-sale terminal and gateway services provider for mobile merchants. The purchase price included a $6 million upfront payment and an earn-out payable in one year of up to an additional $3 million if certain performance targets are met.

The banking industry's loan losses could stay elevated for years, recent federal data suggests, even after appearing to peak in late 2009.

Despite another encouraging quarter for banks, highlighted by relatively high profits and lower loan-loss reserves, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials said uncertainty about the broader economy is keeping lending depressed.

Cimbal Inc. is bypassing any future business models centered on Near Field Communication payments with a mobile-phone application that mimics NFC functionality but without the use of an embedded chip in the handset.

Consumer confidence improved slightly in August, reversing directions after declining in both June and July, The Conference Board Inc., a New York-based research organization, reported Aug. 31.

Hypercom Corp.’s announced change on Aug. 31 of its sales leadership overseeing multilane point-of-sale products and Latin America signifies the payment-terminal maker’s desire to increase market share and to develop new sales channels.

Providers of card not present (CNP) payments technology will soon have company as Transaction Network Services plots an expansion of its international CNP product into the U.S. market.

South Koreans’ credit card spending overseas reached a new high in this year’s second quarter, the Bank of Korea reports.

UMassFive College Credit Union has selected ACH Federation to provide the independent not-for-profit cooperative financial institution with back-end automated clearinghouse technology to enable the institution’s members to pay their various loans by phone.

As the industry waits for Near Field Communication technology to reach the market, other mobile-payments technologies are being tested all over the globe. These products work by integrating technology similar to NFC into existing mobile handsets.

Fifth Third Processing Solutions LLC today announced the availability of a new product, PCI Assist, designed to help the processor’s smaller merchants validate their compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.

ACI Worldwide Inc. said Monday that it would supply payment services to Domino's Pizza Inc.

MasterCard Worldwide has announced a deal with a Brussels online payment company that would give customers of MasterCard issuers greater access to U.S. and United Kingdom online merchants.