Credit

Various unregulated new mobile-payment services proliferating in the U.S. could be putting certain consumers at risk for fraud, Consumers Union, a nonprofit consumer-advocacy organization, announced Aug. 24.

VeriFone Systems Inc. beat Wall Street’s expectations for its fiscal third quarter ended July 31 based on strong North American sales and a rebounding Latin American market, and executives at the payment-terminal maker predict demand for wireless payment systems and gas-station terminals will help drive future earnings.

WePay Inc. continues to distinguish itself from other online-payment services by soliciting groups and organizations using social-networking sites. The company recently integrated with Facebook Events and Facebook Groups to enable groups to collect funds online through the social-networking website.

Average credit card charge-offs in July declined sharply, falling below 10% of outstanding receivables for the first time since April 2009, Moody’s Investors Service announced Aug. 25.

American Eagle FCU has signed with Dynamic Card Solutions to use the company’s instant card issuance for unembossed Visa debit cards at the branch level.

PartnersFirst Affinity Services has agreed to use a custom card-production service from the processor Total System Services Inc.

Companies that install or manage payment-application software, such as that used in integrated point-of-sale terminals, can best protect their information by following a list of best practices Visa Inc. issued today, the payments company contends.

The merchant-processing unit of Barclaycard UK in July experienced an almost double-digit increase in spending by its merchant clients’ credit and debit card customers in the United Kingdom compared with the same month last year, challenging the notion that consumer confidence has declined, Barclaycard announced recently.

Hong Kong’s total credit card receivables fell 11.7% at the end of the June, to HK$19.6 billion (US$2.5 billion or 1.9 billion euros) from HK$22.2 billion a year earlier, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority recently reported.

China’s Union Mobile Pay service’s transaction sales volume exceeded 30 billion yuan (US$4.4 billion or 3.1 billion euros) in 2009, a spokesperson for the mobile payment service provider tells PaymentsSource.

Mobile banking is gaining more popularity with the underbanked than it is with conventional bank customers.

CommunityAmerica CU said yesterday it signed a five-year credit, signature/PIN debit, and ATM processing contract with PSCU Financial Services.

The Center for Financial Services Innovation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on financial services for underbanked consumers, will continue to operate as usual, despite the Aug. 20 failure of its affiliate bank, ShoreBank Corp.

Consumers’ increased use of smart phones to shop appears to be having an effect on how small businesses purchase. New survey data suggest that 27% of small companies use mobile devices to make purchases.

Many PCI compliance programs that independent sales organizations and acquirers offer their merchants are beginning to prove their value, says Deana Rich, president of Van Nuys, Calif.-based Rich Consulting.

Philippines-based e-commerce payment specialist Mozcom Inc. in August announced a partnership with Dragonpay Corp. enabling consumers who lack credit cards to pay for online purchases at its walk-in payment centers.

Australia’s government in August announced plans to fund a national financial-literacy course for students at its public chools that will teach the basics of money-management and how to evaluate credit card offers.

Two of Japan’s major contactless mass-transit payment card systems will become interoperable next year, significantly expanding the systems’ reach, Central Japan Railway Co. said on August 11.

Payment processor RBS WorldPay Inc. has class A certified Way Systems Inc.’s way5000 mobile point-of-sale device for use on its network.

Credit unions are expanding beyond Apple's iPhone to develop mobile banking applications for other devices, in particular those running the Google Android operating system.