Credit

Visa Inc., a sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup that starts June 11 in South Africa, has launched a digital aspect of its “Go Fans” worldwide marketing campaign. A channel on YouTube.com enables fans to share video of entertaining “goal” calls.

In urging Congress to delete the interchange amendment from the pending bank reform bill credit union executives were put in an unusual position of arguing that an exemption – a so-called carve-out – from the amendment that they have sought in other bills is unworkable and impracticable.

Millions of dollars in ads are being printed and carried over the airwaves by credit unions and banks and their nemeses in the interchange amendment to the bank bill, the nation’s retailing groups, in the biggest credit union lobbying effort in more than a decade.

Citigroup Inc. will be making contactless payment stickers available to customers in select cities this summer, PaymentsSource has learned.

U.S. consumers’ average credit card debt in May fell to its lowest level so far this year, while credit scores held steady, according to new data Credit Karma released June 9.

TaxiEpay, a unit of Australia-based Live Group, has begun deploying more than 3,500 Hypercom Corp. terminals to support a new payment card-acceptance system for taxis in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based terminal maker announced June 8.

Malaysia’s CIMB Bank Bhd. and telecommunications company Celcom Axiata Bhd. have formed a partnership to speed up how quickly the telco’s customers can pay their mobile bills, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based bank

Motorists in Sharjah, the third-largest emirate of the United Arab Emirates, soon will be able to renew their parking smart cards and pay fines at self-service machines in the city’s malls, a spokesperson for the Sharjah Municipality Transport and Freight Department tells PaymentsSource.

Industry groups continued their full-court press Wednesday to keep an interchange provision out of the final regulatory reform bill, but whether they could succeed was an open question.

MasterCard Inc. announced Wednesday that it has formed a joint venture with Smart Hub Inc. to develop a global mobile payment system.

One place exists where Christopher Kenyon, chief information officer and executive vice president of systems and technology at Elavon Inc., does not want to see his company’s name: in a headline for a story about a data breach.

U.S. Bancorp has purchased grocery retailer Kroger Co.’s credit card portfolio from a Royal Bank of Scotland Group subsidiary.

Punjab National Bank Ltd. has become India’s first financial institution to offer credit cards to visually impaired customers, a spokesperson for the New Delhi-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

The recent changes in quarterly processing volume at Total System Services Inc. reflect the effects of an undulating global economy and market consolidation.

Merchant acquirers that fail to follow Visa Inc.’s safeguards to prevent processing certain high-risk merchants’ transactions face paying $100 per charge-back on top of regular penalty fees under a program Visa announced to its acquirers in March.

Gemalto NV’s consulting-services unit has became the first company to join MasterCard Worldwide’s M/Chip Accredited Third-Party program, the France-based chip maker announced this week. The accreditation enables Gemalto Consulting Services to help MasterCard clients with EMV chip-and-PIN and contactless technology.

American Express Co. and Air New Zealand have launched a rewards credit card, according to the Auckland-based airline.

Doha Bank Ltd. is looking to increase its credit card base by at least a quarter this summer holiday season by offering new and existing cardholders an unprecedented 25% cash-back reward on their card spending on travel, an official from the Qatar-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

Executives from U.S. Bank opened the kimono yesterday at SourceMedia's 4th Annual Mobile Banking and Emerging Applications Summit, laying out the bank's mobile roadmap in great detail.

Asset Acceptance Capital Corp., a Warren, Mich., debt buyer that is under federal investigation for its collection practices, said lenders have agreed to loosen some restrictions in its credit facility and increase its borrowing limit.