Credit

Though legislation that would permit merchants to set minimum and maximum limits on card transactions remains pending in Congress, it is gaining a lot of attention among merchant acquirers and independent sales organizations.

First Data Corp.’s new chief Joe Forehand is wasting no time in shaking things up within the debt-laden processing company, as indicated by the company’s May 25 announcement of the unexpected departure of three top executives, including its recently hired chief financial officer, W. Patrick Shannon.

MasterCard Worldwide is planning to open up its software format, enabling third-party programmers to develop payments applications for its network. The company on May 25 said it would release open application programming interfaces for developers later this year.

Credit Union National Association lobbyists broke off negotiations congressional leaders last Thursday and are instead firing up the CU grassroots to lobby for provisions they hope will minimize the impact of interchange amendments added to the bank reform bill passed by the Senate last week.

India’s Jet Airways Ltd. is partnering with SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd. to provide a new booking facility to the card company’s credit cardholders who purchase tickets with the airline.

Starting Jan. 1, Vermont merchants will be able to set spending minimums for debit and credit card payments under a bill that became law last week despite concerns from the state's governor.

The best thing about mobile payment apps is not the speed of transactions made with phones, but how the apps let people manage their accounts on their own instead of wasting time at the register, according to early results from retailers.

Widespread use of contactless payment in the U.S. remains three to five years away because merchants and issuers still lack compelling incentives to promote the technology, experts concluded recently at the Smart Card Alliance’s annual conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Spending in the luxury market did not decline as dramatically as in other markets when the economy soured the past couple of years and has rebounded sooner as the economy has improved, according to data from American Express Co.’s Business Insights research unit.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it is eager to deploy chip-and-PIN card technology as a stronger barrier against point of sale card fraud but that card issuers are balking.

The road to the widespread rollout and adoption of Near Field Communication mobile payments may be littered with potholes and speed bumps, but payments-industry executives still hope the technology can make a significant splash in the United States.

JPMorgan & Chase Co. is hoping to help mid-market businesses to control costs and improve their overall purchasing efficiency through the recent introduction of several card offerings.

Malaysians have initiated 2,400 tax payments online worth a combined 658,000 ringgits (US$202,428 or 164,991 euros) through a service the country’s postal service operator, Pos Malaysia Bhd, launched April 15, an official from the Internal Revenue Board tells PaymentsSource.

Japan Airlines International on June 1 plans to launch the “JAL Mile Phone,” a service that will enable members of the airline’s JAL Mileage Bank frequent-flyer program to earn miles using customized mobile phones and users of the airline’s JAL credit card to secure additional benefits.

HDFC Bank Ltd. has become the first bank in India to issue chip-based credit cards that comply with the international EMV antifraud standard, an official from the Mumbai-based bank’s credit card operations tells PaymentsSource.

UOB Bank Ltd. has begun offering an application for Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android smartphones called the Lady’s Soulmate as part of the issuer’s effort to revamp its Lady’s credit card. The goal is to add 1 million cardholders by 2014 as part of the initiative, the Singapore-based bank said in a statement.

Best Buy Co. Inc.’s first store in Turkey will use a shared point-of-sale service, eliminating the multiple POS terminals commonly seen domestically on merchant countertops, according to Ingenico S.A., which is supplying the service.

Socialwise Inc.'s BillMyParents envisions a future where teenagers' spending becomes more social in nature — and parents can put a curfew on their kids' spending if necessary.

Software platforms that have enabled developers to create payment applications for use on Apple's iPhone and social-networking websites will have a significant effect on the payments industry over the next decade, David Evans, founder of Market Platform Dynamics, said.

Major U.S. merchants are ready to deploy EMV chip-and-PIN card technology as the strongest barrier against point-of-sale card fraud, but card issuers and networks are blocking their path, Jamie Henry, director of payment services at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said this week at the Smart Card Alliance’s annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz.