Credit

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.

Target Corp.’s first-quarter performance exceeded the company’s expectations, including its credit card segment’s rise in profitability.

State Bank of India is increasing its domestic merchant acquiring activity with plans to deploy up to 1.5 million point-of-sale terminals for credit and debit card acceptance by March 2011, an official from the Mumbai-based bank tells PaymentsSource.

The Public Transport Ticketing Corp. of Sydney, Australia, has awarded Cubic Corp. a contract to oversee the adoption of a smart card ticketing system in that city, according to the transport authority.

Maxis Communications Ltd. has inked a payments deal with online-payments provider PayPal Inc., the Kuala Lumpur-based telecommunication operator announced last week. The agreement represents the first such deal worldwide between a mobile-network operator and an online payment-service provider, the telco says.

WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly rejected a measure from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse late Wednesday that would require national banks to offer credit based on the interest rate limits in cardholders' states.

Target Corp.'s credit card business, which suffered from delinquencies during the economic downturn, reportedly outperformed internal projections in the retailer's fiscal first quarter as expenses related to bad debt fell sharply.

Heartland Payment Systems Inc. has entered a $41.1 million agreement with MasterCard Inc. to settle claims stemming from the 2008 security breach of the Princeton, N.J., company's processing systems.

With threats to interchange fees growing, issuers are looking for ways to hand off more of the costs of rewards programs to merchants.